Tressa Burke, chief executive of a leading disability rights charity, turned down an MBE over the “intolerable” treatment of disabled people by the UK government.
Honoured whilst disabled people are dishonoured
Tressa Burke, CEO of disability charity Glasgow Disability Alliance, wrote to the Cabinet Office to turn down the “honour”. In her letter, she called out the hypocrisy of the prime minister honouring her at a time when the government is treating disabled people so poorly:
Despite being grateful that the life-changing work of my organisation, Glasgow Disability Alliance, has been acknowledged, I feel that I cannot accept a personal honour because disabled people are being so dishonoured at this time.
She went in on the government, saying disabled people are being demonised, dehumanised, and “scapegoated for political choices and policy failures by consecutive governments”. In the letter, she drew attention to the fact that the government is making disabled people even sicker with their choices.
These include “unfair, inadequate and inaccessible work”, inadequate benefits, barriers to work, social care charges and the fear of not being able to live.
“Honour” given to Tressa Burke as Labour strips away disabled people’s rights
In the cruellest twist of fate, Tressa Burke received the letter notifying her of the honour on Wednesday, 26 November. This meant she opened the letter as Reeves announced her budget, which once again fucked over disabled people. In the following days the press called it the “benefits street budget”.
She highlighted the impacts successive governments have had on disabled people:
Disabled people have suffered horrendous impacts of 15 years of austerity, the Covid Pandemic and the cost of living crisis. These impacts including reduced life outcomes from participation in families, communities, education and work to our very lives being reduced- 60% of all who died of Covid in Scotland were disabled people and we have now the compelling evidence of the UK Covid Inquiry to back this up.
She explained that her organisation has lost hundreds of members since the pandemic, some tragically to suicide. Burke highlights that the government are to blame for many of disabled people’s deaths by suicide:
some of this is attributed to policy failures resulting in poverty, homelessness, lack of support and social isolation and loneliness for disabled people of all ages.
There have been an untold number of deaths by suicide due to benefits being cut, and as The Canary revealed, the DWP knows that their own systems drive claimants to self-harm.
Disabled people left to rot by government
Whilst Tressa Burke praised the rise in disability benefits with inflation, extension of the PIP award period and removal of the two-child cap, she criticised a lot of the budget measures:
However, these are vastly overshadowed by the extremely draconian actions being taken which negatively impact disabled people’s lives and plunge them into further poverty, removing them even more, from living lives of meaning and fulfilment.
She rightfully calls out the government for not upholding disabled people’s right to support throughout their whole life. Burke says that while it’s great that the government are investing more in child social care, there has been no such commitment for disabled adults. She points out that the government will put more pressure on the NHS and fewer disabled people will be able to live independently.
Burke points out that the budget gives no reassurance to disabled people as it included nothing on accessible transport, adult social care, education, accessible housing or wheelchair services. She said:
This lack of investment and missed opportunity on disability related spending will deepen existing inequalities and leave disabled people facing exclusion, isolation, homelessness and unsafe care levels.
Motability and benefits hatred called out
The additional concerns Burke raised include that the proposed reforms to PIP will cause “extreme concerns and stress” to disabled people. Tressa Burke also highlighted that the freezing of the Universal Credit Health Element will make disabled people who can’t work even more financially insecure.
She also criticised the decision to end tax exemptions and the removal of bigger, more accessible cars from the Motability scheme, saying:
This situation has been described by disabled people as “devastating” and “punitive”, adding hundreds of pounds to upfront payments to lease cars. Disabled people are completely confounded by these measures which seem unfair and unjust and “threaten exclude disabled people from daily life, including working life” say GDA members.
Burke specifically called out the framing of disabled people who need Motability cars and benefits:
“so that is doesn’t pay to be off sick rather than work” is misleading and belies reality. In relation to Motability, disabled people pay personally for any shortfall in funding to access bigger and more accessible vehicles and with regard to seeking employment, disabled people actually face exceptional barriers in terms of securing work – primarily employer discrimination, lack of accessible transport, lack of social care and now rationed access to work support.
She called for the government to be compassionate towards disabled people instead of blaming us for everything:
Disabled people and Disabled People- Led organisations around the UK, needed our Government to embed compassion, fairness and opportunity in this budget instead of placing blame on disabled people for an inaccessible and discriminatory world.
This would have meant shoring up public services including social care supports which disabled people and the NHS rely on every day. There is also still a necessity for the UK Government to talk with disabled people, believe our lived experience and co-design solutions with our organisations.
Tressa Burke: disability rights have gone backwards
Ending the letter, Tressa Burke points out that she refused the honour on the 3rd December, which is also the UN International Day of People with Disabilities:
This day aims to raise awareness of challenges faced by disabled people and to promote the full and equal participation of disabled people in all aspects of society. The 2025 themes is “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress,” when ironically, the UK Government budget and related rhetoric has the opposite impact- intended or otherwise.
She also closes by pointing out that 2025 was the 30th anniversary of Disability Discrimination Act:
All these years later, disabled people describe and experience more injustices and inequalities than ever and the UN has reported that not only has there been no progress but that there have been rights regressions for disabled people in the UK.
Honours an empty gesture while the government destroys disabled peoples lives
Tressa Burke concludes that it’s because of all of these reasons and the overall treatment of disabled people that she can not accept the MBE:
This reality, combined with the impact of the recent UK Budget has resulted in a loss of hope and a feeling that disabled people are dishonoured – criticised, condemned and brutalised not only by actions in the budget but by the messages it sends. For this reason I must decline the offer of award of Member of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year 2026.
It’s admirable of Burke to turn down the MBE so publicly and something more charity CEOs should do. It’s absolutely disgusting of this government to attempt to reward disability champions whilst at the same time destroying disabled people’s lives. This reeks of attempting to placate and buy off the very people who are fighting to stop you from killing their community.
Burke turning this down so publicly is just another sign that disabled people won’t quietly let Labour ruin our lives even more than the Tories ever did.
Featured image via the Canary
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