Incredible 1.5M added to workless ranks under Starmer’s watch | UK | News
The number of people receiving Britain’s main benefits without having to work has increased by 1.5 million since Labor took office, The Telegraph reports; Nearly 4.2 million people on Universal Credit now have “no work obligation” following a rise in mental health claims, new figures reveal.
The government faces growing pressure to increase welfare spending amid a backlash against Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax-increasing “Benefits Street” Budget.
Critics slammed the figures, claiming they showed Downing Street had lost control after abandoning planned cuts to sickness benefits last year, according to the report. But officials insist a significant part of the increase is due to claimants switching from other sick pay to Universal Credit.
According to official data, in December the number of people benefiting from Universal Credit, which does not require work, was 4.2 million; this was more than the 2.7 million people inherited by Labor in July 2024. They make up half of the 8.4 million people receiving the benefit overall, marking the biggest increase in the number of claimants since the start of the Covid pandemic.
Conservatives and Reform England propose welfare reform plans
Shadow work and pensions minister Helen Whately said: “This is a sure sign that Labor has failed to get benefits under control. Labor came into Government with no plan to reform welfare, so it is no surprise they have made no progress.”
He outlined the Conservatives’ plan to fix welfare, which includes stopping sickness benefits for low-level mental health problems, reintroducing face-to-face assessments and ending benefit payments to non-British citizens. He also promised to support businesses to create jobs by reducing business taxes and red tape.
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson echoed Whately’s sentiments, saying: “This is further evidence that Labor supports shirkers, not workers, in this country. The benefits system is being abused by people who don’t need it and are not even citizens of this country. Only Reform has a clear plan to overhaul our benefits system, cut the ballooning £342bn benefits bill and get people back to work.”
Authorities began moving claimants of Employment Support Allowance (ESA), a former sickness benefit, to Universal Credit in July 2024. Around 750,000 people have been transferred since then, which partly explains the significant increase in Universal Credit claims. Many ESA claimants have serious conditions that make them unable to work.
Pressure mounts on Labor to cut welfare spending
The figures are expected to increase pressure on Labor to reduce spiraling spending on working-age benefits, which is expected to reach £177bn a year by the early 2030s. Documents released alongside the autumn budget increased the forecast for the next five years by £36.4bn compared to last spring’s forecasts.
It comes after Labor abandoned plans to cut £5.5bn from the Personal Independence Payments (PIP) bill following a rebellion by backbench MPs.
Downing Street has tasked former Labor health secretary Alan Milburn with leading a review into tackling youth unemployment.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “This rise comes as people move away from old benefits, a shift we inherited from the previous government and a system with the wrong incentives that pushed people away. This government is determined to fix that. That’s why we’re removing the financial incentives that encourage inactivity in Universal Credit and, as part of our wider plans to Make Britain Work, we’ve redeployed 1,000 job coaches to help thousands of sick and disabled people who have been left out of touch for years.”
