LABOUR Chancellor Rachel Reeves is planning to initiate a new regime of widespread welfare cuts, throwing thousands of sick, disabled and mentally ill off benefits, as well as slashing the budgets of other government departments.
The Treasury put the proposed cuts ahead of the 26th March Spring Statement, to the government’s official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), yesterday.
Asked yesterday if welfare cuts are the right approach, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood claimed there has been a ‘huge rise in the welfare budget’ and that there are ‘too many’ young people not in work, education or training.
‘There’s a moral case here for making sure that people who can work are able to work and there’s a practical point here as well, because our current situation is unsustainable,’ she added.
Reeves has previously threatened ‘fundamental’ reform of the welfare system in order to slash spending on health-related benefits.
Unemployed workers on Universal Credit must already show evidence they have applied for jobs, or face sanctions – but those on sickness benefits are to be especially targeted in order to cut the welfare budget.
The Chancellor claims she hasn’t changed her plans and that the government was always going to ‘fix welfare to get people back to work’ and ‘make the NHS more productive’.
Reeves is also preparing to ‘retool’ the £27.8 billion National Wealth Fund, which had primarily been earmarked for ‘green projects’, so it can be transferred to defence spending.
Reeves also warned that the British economy will be hurting by a G7 trade war even if US President Trump exempts the UK from the threatened tariffs.
‘We will be affected by slowing global trade, by a slower GDP growth and by higher inflation,’ she said.
In the run-up to the Spring Statement, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will announce massive cuts within their own departments and the civil service.
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