‘Out of touch’ Rachel Reeves pushes 1 million more Brits to benefits | Politics | News
Rachel Reeves and the Labor government have been criticized as “out of touch” after new official figures showed a huge rise in demand for Universal Credit (UC). The number of people receiving UC last month was 8.3 million (up significantly from 7.2 million at the same point last year), with almost all of this rapid increase coming from people not required to work.
The increase of 1.1 million is the largest annual increase since the 12 months to April 2021, the start of the Covid pandemic. Lawson Financial Director Michelle Lawson said the figures were “shocking” as UC “has become a way of life for so much of the public”. Warning that the difficult days ahead will continue, he said: “Is this too generous? Can the aid continue?”
“With such a punishing economic environment and families struggling, resorting to the public purse should be a last resort, but many people rely on it for an income stream.
“I expect these figures to rise with the upcoming Budget and the threat of further unemployment rising due to further tax rises, which is a bleak picture not only for families but also for the shaky, disengaged Government.”
UC figures covering England, Wales and Scotland were released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on Tuesday.
This shows that four million of last month’s claimants were in the non-work required category, representing almost half (48.7%).
Those in this category accounted for 40.4% (2.9 million) of all UC claims in October 2024 and 36.3% (2.2 million) of all UC claims in October 2023.
Sam Alsop-Hall, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of Clive Henry Group, said the jump to 8.3 million UC claimants was a “blinking red light for Labour’s economic experiment”.
“This is not social justice, this is the slow-motion sabotage of ambition.
“The increasing number of people not required to work and the decline in childcare support shows a system that traps people rather than empowers them.
“Labour’s obsession with redistribution through growth is draining the life out of the economy and destroying confidence in business.”
UC is a payment to help with living expenses and is available to employed, low-income people as well as those who are unemployed or unable to work.
People in the ‘not required to work’ group may include those in full-time education, those over state pension age, people with children under the age of one, and people deemed to have no prospect of working.
In a further blow to the Chancellor and Labor, official figures published on Tuesday showed the unemployment rate rose from 4.8% in the three months to August to 5% in the three months to September.
The UK unemployment rate is now at its highest non-Covid period for almost a decade.
There are about two weeks until Ms Reeves announces her Budget.
Tax increases are expected to help plug a black hole in the public finances estimated to be as much as £50bn.
A DWP spokesman said the number of people receiving UC had increased because “tens of thousands of people each month” had been invited to claim the benefits as the old benefits were phased out.
The spokesman added that the Government was “committed” to getting more people off welfare and into work.
