Sir Keir Starmer has defended his government’s cuts to the welfare system, saying that his dad “loved” his job as a toolmaker.
On Tuesday, Labour announced a major overhaul of the welfare system, aimed at saving £5bn a year by 2025. Ministers say the reforms are designed to encourage people to work, while protecting those who cannot.
However, the changes have sparked criticism from some Labour backbenchers, unions and charities, who fear the reforms could push more disabled people into poverty.
In particular, there is anger towards Labour’s key decision to tighten the eligibility criteria for personal independence payment (PIP), a benefit aimed at helping those with increased living costs due to disability or long-term illness.
Defending the reforms in a piece for The Times, the prime minister said he believes work “can and should provide a sense of pride, dignity and respect,” using the example of his toolmaking dad.
He wrote: “This is the beating heart of my politics. I saw how much it hurt my dad to feel disrespected for the tool-making craft he loved.
“I believe every single worker should feel their contribution to the country is valued. That is why I am so determined to reform work with the biggest levelling-up of employment rights in a generation.
“And I have seen firsthand just how many barriers are put in the way of disabled people who simply want to get on and lead their lives. So I am equally determined to reform the broken social security system that is holding both our people and our country back.”
In the piece, Sir Keir said the current welfare system had “wreaked a terrible human cost”, because people who wanted to return to work unable to access the support they needed.
He accused the system of “actively incentivising” people away from work and labelled it an “affront to the values of our country”.
The government hopes the reforms will save £5bn a year by the end of the decade, the BBC reports.
There had been reports in recent days that the government was planning on freezing PIP and means testing the benefit.
However, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall told Parliament on Tuesday that this would not be happening, following rumours of a potential rebellion from Labour MPs who disagreed with the prospect of freezing payments.
But eligibility for the payment will be tightened, meaning less claimants will be able to receive it.
Labour announced a change to increase the number of points applicants need to score in an assessment for the benefit to be found eligible for it.
People with the most “severe disabilities and health conditions” which do not change will not be reassessed repeatedly as part of the new reforms.
The changes have been criticised by Labour MPs, opposition parties and charities. The Disability Benefits Consortium said the “immoral and devastating benefits cuts will push more disabled people into poverty, and worsen people’s health,” whilst the SNP said the measures would “harm the most vulnerable” and “mark the start of a new era of austerity cuts”.
Meanwhile, the Unite union said the government is “in danger of making the wrong choices” and “pitting the poorest against the poorest.”
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