Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned it is “morally bankrupt” to make the poorest pay the price for her spending decisions as she prepares cuts to Britain’s spiralling welfare budget. Charities and MPs are alarmed at the prospect of multi-billion-pound cuts at a time when prices for necessities are rising.
The Government has already announced cuts to the foreign aid budget to boost defence spending and there is worry that axing benefits will hurt people in the UK in poverty.
A Labour MP warned that the Chancellor’s policies could see voters switch to Reform UK, saying: “If you look at the council by-elections, Reform are not just winning them – they are storming them.”
In a stark warning to fellow MPs in “Red Wall” seats, the MP said: “You had better enjoy it while you can because you won’t be an MP for very long.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn turned his guns on the Government’s record, saying: “First it was the refusal to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Then it was cuts to winter fuel allowance and foreign aid. Now it’s devastating cuts to welfare…
“Isn’t it strange how the Government only cites ‘difficult choices’ when they are harming the most vulnerable people in society? The Government should be more honest: there is never any money for the poor, but always enough money for war.”
The Office for Budget Responsibility is expected to confirm this month that nearly £10billion of “headroom” has been eliminated.
Anna Marriott, of Oxfam, said: “It is morally bankrupt to make people living in poverty at home or around the world pay the greatest price for Government spending decisions, and it’s a false choice when the extreme wealth of the UK’s super rich is skyrocketing but goes untouched.”
Lynn Perry of Barnardo’s, said: “It’s vital that any changes to the welfare budget do not risk tipping even more families below the poverty line. Around 4.3 million children are living in poverty in this country – in homes where parents are already struggling to afford to keep the fridge stocked and the power on.”
She said she recognised “the scale of the challenge facing the Government” and said “difficult decisions will need to be made” but urged Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves to put children first.
However, there is strong support in Labour for measures which will take people off benefits and get them into work.
Telford Labour MP Shaun Davies said: “The number of young people who aren’t working due to long term sickness has rocketed by 60,000 in just a year… A whole generation being locked out of work is a disaster for them, their families, and for Britain.
“It’s a scandal that this has been allowed to happen and we risk a lost generation if we don’t act.”
Claiming that local businesses were unable to fill vacancies, he said: “Something has gone dramatically wrong over the past 14 years – and we must allow people to get back to work so Britain works for working people.”
He added: “We have to move away from a system that means we’re reliant on migration to fill jobs, and encourage young people into work.”
Fellow Labour MP Rachael Maskell said it is “crucial that all who need social security get the support they need whether to access work, or for those who can’t, to be able to live their lives with dignity”.
Stressing the need for economic stability, she said a “more progressive tax system would ensure that those with the broadest shoulders contribute the most”.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said: “The British people are paying the price for Labour’s economic incompetence. Just months after the Chancellor’s disastrous maiden Budget, Rachel Reeves has been forced into an emergency Budget to clean up her own mess.”
