Labour is not a party of the “centre-right”, a minister has said amid criticism of the government’s welfare reforms and anticipated spending cuts.
The government announced a raft of welfare measures on Tuesday, which it said will help bring more working age people back into jobs and save the taxpayer billions of pounds.
Among the most significant moves was the tightening of eligibility for personal independence payments (PIP), a benefit aimed at helping those with disability or long-term illness with increased living costs.
The measure has been criticised fiercely by MPs on the left of British politics, including at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday.
Colum Eastwood, the MP for Foyle in Northern Ireland and representative of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), asked the prime minister “what was the point” of ending Conservative rule in light of the reforms.
Eastwood said: “A lady came to see me recently who needed help. She had a disability [that] meant that her children have to help her cut up our food. They have to help her wash beneath the waist. They have to supervise her as she goes to the toilet on the tour.
“Under the Tory welfare system, we were able to get that lady on PIP. Under the prime minister’s new proposed system, she will get zero nothing.”
Labour’s Diane Abbott, a frequent critic of the government from the left, told the PM there was “nothing moral” about the plan.
The mother of the House said: “This is not about morality. This is about the Treasury’s wish to balance the country’s books on the back of the most vulnerable and poor people in this society.”
Keir Starmer responded: “I think one-in-eight young people not in employment, training or education, that’s a million young people. I think that’s a moral issue.
“Because all the evidence suggests that someone in that situation, at that stage of their life is going to find it incredibly difficult ever to get out of that level of dependency.”
The comments also come ahead of chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spring statement next week, when further spending cuts are expected in order to balance the books amid poor economic growth.
Luke Pollard, a defence minister, was asked whether the government is ideologically situated on the “centre-right” given such criticisms.
He told Sky News: “No, I don’t think so.”
Pollard added: “It’s wrong for me to speculate what might be in the spring statement next week, but we’ve been very clear that by taking the difficult decision to reduce international aid spending, we’re moving that money to defence.
“The changes that we are seeking to make to welfare is not to fund defence spending, it’s to help people back into work. We know that there has been a big increase in the number of people out of work, but when we’ve got one-in-eight young people claiming disability benefit, that is a crisis for our nation.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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