Labour has moral duty to get sick into work, MPs say
Labor MPs said the government had a “ethical obligation” to help long-term patients and people with disabilities work as ministers plan to reform benefits.
The GET UK working group of 36 Labor MPs said the country faces a “hard choice” to overcome the “economic inactivity crisis” in a letter from Liz Kendall, secretary of work and pensions.
The letter is aimed at cutting the welfare bill before Kendall expects to make changes to the welfare system.
Prime Minister has appointed Prior to the spring statement, cuts to welfare and other government spending cuts billions of pounds.
The plans within the party are uneasy, Labour MP Rachael Maskell warned that “harsh cuts” risk “putting people with disabilities into poverty”.
Maskell told the BBC she encountered “deep attention” among Labour MPs.
“I’ve watched what Labour has achieved in this field in the past and believe we can stick to our values and make sure we help people rather than hurt people,” she said.
Speaking at a meeting of labor MPs on Monday night, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “We find ourselves in the worst situation in the world – with the wrong incentives – to stop people from working, taxpayers fund a spiral bill, which by 2030, will be £70 billion a year.
“The wasted generation, eighteen-year-olds are not in education, employment or training, and those who really need safety nets are still not always getting the dignity they deserve.
“It’s unsustainable, it’s undefensive, and it’s unfair, people feel their bones.”
Many MPs left the meeting and said they were satisfied with the Prime Minister’s words.
Some say they accept that welfare reforms must be carried out and rest assured that they say that they must be done through labor values and work dignity.
But another person said the voters were scared and needed to know that support would exist.
They say few people recognize that reducing benefits such as individual independent payments (to help people maintain independence) has the potential to increase costs.
In a letter to Prime Minister Rachel Reeves, more than a dozen charities believe that “very little evidence shows that cuts in welfare will increase employment outcomes”.
Charities – including UK disability rights, citizen advice, scope and senses – urge Reeves to “re-consider the cuts of disability benefits”.
They said: “There are some people with disabilities who are out of work and they want to get the proper support. For some people with disabilities, the job is not suitable.
“The changes to welfare must start here. Don’t cut it.”
However, ministers are concerned about the surge in demand for benefits and the cost of taxpayers since the competitive pandemic.
As of January, 9.3 million people aged 16 to 64 in the UK were economically inactive – a growth of 713,000 since the pandemic.
The Ministry of Works and Pensions said about 2.8 million people are financially inactive due to long-term illness.
The government spent £65 billion in disease benefits last year, and that figure is expected to increase by billions of dollars before the next election.
Some reforms to the welfare system Have been announced And include plans to use 1,000 job coaches to help jobs that are unemployed for a long time.
The GET Britain Working Group said in its letter that long-term patients and persons with disabilities “far beyond economic necessity.”
“This is a moral obligation,” the letter said.
The letter said the group – most of which were first elected in the general election last July – was intended to “urge us to make fundamental changes to our welfare system to support the work.”
“We believe that reforming our broken systems is not only necessary, but a real progressive effort,” the letter said.
Too many people have been signed off on Sky News, conservative shadow internal secretary Chris Philp said in a speech on Sunday.
He said the need to make the welfare system harder and thought it was easy for people to get benefits payments.
“I think it’s going too far and it’s costing billions of pounds a year,” he said.
