Civil war at top of Government as Keir Starmer ‘blocks benefit cuts’ | Politics | News
Keir Starmer has delayed efforts to cut the UK’s rising welfare bill, leaving his Cabinet colleagues in the same position, according to reports. Number 10 has told Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden that he will not be allowed to introduce legislation designed to control welfare spending until next year at the earliest, the Times reports.
This means there will be no new laws at the King’s Speech in May, when the Government will announce its plans for this year. According to the Times, this means that long-awaited plans to cut disability benefits will not be implemented, while measures to get young people off welfare and into work may also be delayed. However, sources insisted that changes could be made later in the year.
The government last year suspended plans to cap disability benefits and instead launched a consultation led by Minister Stephen Timms. But Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden insisted he was still determined to control welfare spending.
An inquiry into how to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training, known as NEETS, is also being led by former Labor Secretary Alan Milburn. This will likely suggest some changes in benefits.
The Times reported that Sir Keir chose to delay benefit cuts to avoid angering Labor MPs. One minister told the paper: “Obviously any welfare reform on the backbenches is going to be very difficult and the closer you get to the General Election, the less you want to do the hard work.
“We must remember that the public largely wants to see welfare reform and we need to show that it is being delivered. This does not indicate that reform is a priority.”
But Downing Street sources insisted it would not make sense to propose legislation before the reviews have published their recommendations.
Downing Street is drawing up plans for the King’s Speech, which will set out proposed legislation that will come into force over the next 12 months. This involves each government department determining the legislation it hopes to include, with Number 10 making the final decision.
A Government spokesman said: “Final decisions on the content of the King’s Speech have not yet been made.
“We are already repairing the broken welfare system we inherited so we can get Britain back to work, including introducing the Motability and Universal Credit reforms as well as the Youth Guarantee.
“We have appointed Alan Millburn to look at how we can tackle the number of unemployed young people and will prepare further legislative plans in due course.”
