The head of a prominent disability rights organization has declined an MBE in the New Year Honours, citing the “simply intolerable” circumstances faced by disabled individuals in the UK.
Tressa Burke, chief executive of the Glasgow Disability Alliance, was nominated for the honor by the Prime Minister in recognition of her dedication to serving people with disabilities.
However, in a letter to the Cabinet Office posted on X, Burke condemned recent policy alterations implemented in November’s Budget, including reductions to the Motability scheme.
BBC Scotland News contacted the Cabinet Office for comment, but the office stated that it does not comment on individual honors.
Burke revealed that she received notification of her proposed honor on November 26, the same day Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the UK Budget.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast, the charity leader described the timing as “very grim” 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 stated.
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 characterized the Budget as a “missed opportunity” to invest in disabled services, resulting in “deepening inequality and injustice.”
In her letter, dated December 3, Burke expressed concerns about “inadequate” benefits and “backdoor taxation” for social care support.
She acknowledged that there “were some positives” in the Budget, such as inflation-linked increases to disability benefits and the removal of the two-child benefit cap.
However, 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 noted that increased investment in children’s social care was not matched by additional funding for adult social care, which she added placed significant strain on the NHS.
She also criticized measures such as the introduction of stricter assessments for Personal Independent Payments.
Burke received a response from the Cabinet Office on December 23, thanking 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.”
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