Keir Starmer has 1 big problem he simply can’t solve – he must know it means he’s finished
Express columnist and Conservative councillor Mieka Smiles explains why Labour cannot solve the UK’s most pressing problem.
Keir Starmer has one big problem that he can do absolultely nothing about, says Mieka Smiles (Image: Getty)
Benefits bill up. Unemployment up. Taxes up.
I mean, crikey, if the Tories wanted a told-you-so moment, then Labour are doing a pretty damn good job at serving it up. And in the midst of that unholy trio is exactly the truly disastrous position Keir Starmer and friends find themselves in.
That is because the number of people receiving jobless benefits without having to look for work has climbed above four million for the first time. The bombshell figures show that this is 50% above the 2.7 million doing so in July 2024 when Starmer first took the helm.
In a further headache for Starmer, the DWP figures showed the number of foreigners claiming Universal Credit is also at a record level. And just yesterday, it was revealed that the rate of UK unemployment has risen to 5%, which is the highest rate since Covid wreaked havoc not just on the nation’s health but also its economy.
Sadly for Starmer, this issue – by far one of the biggest in monetary terms facing the Government – is one he has already shown that he can’t fix. His own MPs took part in a massive rebellion against tightening the rules about who could qualify for certain disability and sickness benefits, which aimed to slow the rise in claimants.
In my town of Middlesbrough, there are families where claiming benefits might as well be the family business. Life on the dole on some estates is passed down from generation to generation. Keir’s stance isn’t compassionate – as the far-Left of his party so staunchly believe – it traps people in a system that prevents them from reaching their full potential.
More young people are claiming benefits than ever before as they get signed off by GPs for anxiety, depression and ADHD. These are, of course, not conditions to belittle. However, in their milder form, a life with no structure, routine, dreams or ambitions is not going to help them in the slightest.
And all this as we’re on the cusp of a Budget that plans to tear up Labour’s promises on taxes to inflict more income tax on those who do work in order to pick up the tab for those who don’t. A study by the Centre for Social Justice suggests that each taxpayer will have to pay an extra £700 a year due to the failure to reform welfare.
Will Starmer grow a set of balls to crack down on the shirkers and prevent this unfair punishment on the ones that already carry the weight of the nation? Will he Nelly. And that’s why, despite being only 14 months into his premiership, he’s already at the end of the line.
