Sir Keir Starmer has defended billions of pounds of looming benefits cuts despite a growing backlash from his own MPs.
The Prime Minister warned the cost of welfare is ‘going through the roof’ and without reform will soon exceed the combined budgets of the Home Office and the prisons service.
He also said it is wrong for claimants to remain trapped on benefits because the system penalises them if they try to get jobs.
Speaking on a visit to Hull, ahead of the expected announcement of £6billion of cuts next week, Sir Keir said: ‘The welfare system as it’s set up, it can’t be defended on economic terms or moral terms.
‘Economically, the cost is going through the roof. So if we don’t do anything, the cost of welfare is going to go to £70 billion per year. That’s a third of the cost of the NHS.
‘That’s more than the Home Office and our prisons combined. So we’re making choices here.’
He went on: ‘We’ve set up a system that basically says, “if you try the journey from where you are into work and anything goes wrong, you’ll probably end up in a worse position when you started”. And so understandably, many people say, “well, I’m a bit scared about making that journey”. Therefore we’re baking in too many people not being able to get into work.’
He denied that the combination of slashing the welfare bill and reducing NHS bureaucracy amounted to a return to the huge cuts of the Coalition government.
Sir Keir Starmer has defended billions of pounds of looming benefits cuts despite a growing backlash from his own MPs
Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell who now sits as an independent MP after rebelling against the Labour whip
‘There is no return to austerity. I said that to you before the election, and we’re not going to austerity,’ the PM told Sky News.
But former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who now sits as an independent MP after rebelling against the Labour whip, told Times Radio: ‘There are a number of people and I can understand their concerns completely to say, actually, we’re not operating like a Labour government.
‘And that by introducing cuts in welfare, some people are saying, well, we’re going back to austerity. They say it’s almost like George Osborne all over again.’
His predecessor Ed Balls added: ‘Cutting the benefits of the most vulnerable in our society who can’t work to pay for that – is not going to work. And it’s not a Labour thing to do… It’s not what they’re for.’
Sir Keir has been inviting all Labour MPs into No 10 to explain the ‘future of the welfare system’ in roundtable talks hosted by the Downing Street Policy Unit aimed at heading off a Commons rebellion.
But one former frontbencher told the Mail that the meeting was unhelpful and ‘contained no details’.
‘It’s hard to say what the proposals actually are or whether the roundtables will have an effect on them. I’ll have to wait for the detail,’ the MP said.
The New Statesman reported last night that even Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is ‘unhappy with the scale of proposed cuts’.
Sir Keir has been inviting all Labour MPs into No 10 to explain the ‘future of the welfare system’ in roundtable talks hosted by the Downing Street Policy Unit aimed at heading off a Commons rebellion
McDonnell told Times Radio: ‘There are a number of people and I can understand their concerns completely to say, actually, we’re not operating like a Labour government’
And Downing Street today refused to guarantee that the welfare changes would not adversely affect people who are unable to work because of severe disabilities, in comments likely to add to Labour MPs’ fears.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘I think we’ve always been clear that clearly we need a system that protects those who cannot work but we also need to fix the broken welfare system that has put welfare spending on an unsustainable path.’
Pressed again, the spokesman said: ‘You’ll see the changes shortly, but we will always have a system that protects people who need protecting and we will always have a system that ensures that those who cannot work get the support they need, but I’m not going to get ahead of the reforms that we’re set to bring forward.’
The long-awaited Green Paper on welfare reform is due to be published by the Department for Work and Pensions early next week.
It has been prompted by soaring costs in recent years and dire predictions of still worse to come.
The sickness and disability bill for working-age adults has already risen by £20bn since the pandemic and the Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted that the annual cost is on course to reach £100.7bn by 2029-30, up from £64.7bn in 2023-24.
According to ITV News, next week’s report will recommend making it harder to qualify for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), a type of benefit for people with long-term physical and mental health conditions that is not linked to work. This is expected to generate £5bn in savings by the end of the decade.
PIP payments could also be frozen next year rather than rising with inflation.
The basic rate of Universal Credit could also be cut for those deemed unfit to work, yet raised for those looking for jobs.
There will also be a major shake-up of the Work Capability Assessment, which decides whether or not claimants are fit for work and is considered to give people an incentive to say they cannot get jobs.
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