(Bloomberg) — The UK government said it will seek to support the country’s most vulnerable even as plans to cut spending on welfare spur dissent within the ruling Labour Party.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said on Sunday that the government’s welfare reform is aimed at supporting people who can’t work while helping those who can find employment. He declined to comment on reports that the government was preparing to backtrack on some of its planned welfare cuts.
“I haven’t seen the full plans,” Streeting told the BBC, when asked specifically if the government is planning to abandon its plan to freeze an inflation-linked rise in personal independence payments — a benefit designed to help those with disabilities cope with resulting additional costs of living, which isn’t tied to work. “What I do know is that the work and pensions secretary wants to support people who need help the most,” he said.
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, told the Sunday Times that it was an “absolute principle” for the government to protect payments for those unable to work. Instead, she will offer a “right-to-try guarantee” for the disabled and sick who want to find jobs without risking the loss of their benefits.
More than half of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet have urged his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to rethink her plans to scale back welfare and spending, Bloomberg News has reported. The cuts, due to be announced this week, could take more than £6 billion ($7.8 billion) off the UK’s welfare bill, according to ITV.
Against a backdrop of stagnant growth, the chancellor is trying to balance the books to meet her rule that current spending must be paid for from tax receipts. She left herself a historically slim £9.8 billion of headroom against that in her budget in October, a margin which has since been wiped out by higher borrowing costs and weaker growth.
“Wait to see our proposals, but there will be changes in long-term disability benefits,” Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden told Sky News on Sunday, adding the government will provide “really important employment support.”
–With assistance from Ailbhe Rea.
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