Labour split as minister Pat McFadden criticises party’s attempts to reform welfare
A split has emerged within the Labor Party after the Work and Pensions Secretary warned against attempts to reform the benefits bill by putting the burden on taxpayers.
Pat McFadden also appeared to double down on his comments about welfare reform, which emerged earlier this week when he complained about Labor MPs in the Mandelson dossiers: “Every meeting I have is a question of ‘who can we tax to benefit others’?”
He added that lawmakers were “asking the wrong questions.”
Rachel Reeves announced deeper welfare cuts in last year’s spring statement after the government’s spending watchdog warned that plans to save £5bn were likely to save only £3.4bn.
Mr McFadden defended efforts to reform the welfare system on GB News. “We need to change the question the welfare system is asking,” he said.
“What I mean by this is that we need to move from a question that asks what benefits you qualify for to a question that asks how we can help you change your life.
“I think this is a progressive welfare reform question because it puts work and opportunity at the center of what you’re trying to do, and I’ve been saying that publicly and privately for a long time.”
He added: “I don’t think you can or should do welfare reform just by saying ‘here’s some money we need to save’ and then inject policy.”
At PMQs, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch mocked Sir Keir Starmer over Mr McFadden’s comments, including those made amid a backlash on welfare. Ms Badenoch said: “Does the Prime Minister agree with the welfare secretary that he lost his authority then?”
Sir Keir replied: “I’m proud of what we’ve delivered on this side of the house. It’s the fastest growing economy in the G7.”
Ms Badenoch also accused the Prime Minister of abandoning the drive to cut welfare costs because his party had “given up on it”.
The Prime Minister replied: “All the measures we have taken for welfare reform, all the measures we have taken to put young people into work, are measures to reduce the cost and the number of unemployed people.”
He continued: “They brought in the broken system, we are reforming it.
“Did they vote to reform with us? No, they voted to preserve the broken system.”
