Disability charity chief condemns UK government as she rejects MBE

The head of a leading disability rights charity turned down an MBE in the New Year Honours over what she described as the “simply intolerable” situation facing disabled people in the UK.

Tressa Burke, chief executive of the Glasgow Disability Alliance, was recognised by the prime minister for her services to people with disabilities.

But in a letter to the Cabinet Office, posted on X, she condemned policy changes in November’s Budget, including cuts to the Motability scheme.

BBC Scotland News approached the Cabinet Office for comment but was told it did not comment on individual honours.

Burke revealed she received the letter about her proposed honour on 26 November, the day Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the UK Budget.

The charity boss told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast that it came at a “very grim” time for disabled people in Glasgow, who she said were “frightened to put their heating on, to pay their bills, basically feeling that they are under attack from the UK government”.

“I just felt I could not accept a personal honour because disabled people were being so dishonoured in society at this time with the political choices that are being made,” she said.

Burke told the BBC that successive governments had wronged disabled people, who she said had been “blamed, scapegoated and relegated to the bottom of society”.

She described the Budget as a “missed opportunity” to invest in disabled services, resulting in a “deepening inequality and injustice”.

In her letter, dated 3 December, Burke raised concerns about “inadequate” benefits and “backdoor taxation” for social care support.

She said there “were some positives” in the Budget, such as increases to disability benefits in line with inflation and the removal of two-child benefit cap.

But her letter continued: “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.”

Burke said increased investment in children’s social care was not matched with any additional funding for adult social care, which she added put significant strain on the NHS.

She also criticised measures such as the introduction of stricter assessments for Personal Independent Payments.

Burke received a reply from the Cabinet Office on 23 December which thanked her for her email.

It continued: “The prime minister was sorry not to be able to include your name in the recommendations which were submitted to The New Year 2026 Honours List, but he of course respected your wishes.”