Starmer: A Secret Blue? Labour’s Gutsy Crackdown on Welfare Benefits

Britain isn’t working. And Keir Starmer has launched his masterplan to fix it.

So let’s give it a fair grilling.

Billions in welfare cuts

Starmer is finally channelling his inner Tory. Not only is he abolishing NHS England’s “cottage industry”, he’s also launching a war on benefit scroungers and the unemployed. Around £6 billion could be cut from the UK’s welfare bill, which is set to reach a staggering £70 billion by 2030.

Now, it’s no secret that I believe Keir Starmer has made umpteen mistakes in his first six months of government. Tax grabs from family farms, freezing pensioners and British businesses set the scene for a catastrophic catalogue of errors from the get-go.

But weaning people off benefits, tackling unemployment and getting Britain working? That’s true blue stuff. It reeks of Tony Blair’s ‘workfare not welfare’ idea of maximising employment rates – and we all know Blair was just a Tory dressed up in a red frock.

What I do find irritating, however, is that Starmer spent years lambasting the Conservatives for austerity this, austerity that. And now, his government has imposed a £40 billion tax raid and substantial spending cuts. Can you even begin to imagine the abuse if the Conservatives had abolished NHS England?

So I’m all for promoting workfare. But don’t be fooled – I’m not suddenly Starmer’s biggest fan. He might have dreamt up one respectable – and rather Conservative – policy, but the rest of his policy decisions have been a hypocritical car crash.

What’s getting cut?

Two main things. First, the government will toughen the eligibility criteria for PIP (Personal Independence Payments, essentially a disability benefit). Second, the basic rate for Universal Credit will be reduced for those not seeking work.

Now, Starmer is facing a huge rebellion from Labour MPs over PIP in particular, which is forecast to affect more than 4 million disabled people. This is understandable – we don’t want to be picking on more vulnerable people, do we Keir?

However, since the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people claiming PIP has risen astronomically. In July 2018, over 1.8 million people claimed PIP. By January 2024, this had increased to 3.3 million – an 83% increase.

This just doesn’t add up. We know there’s been a seismic shift in attitudes to work since Covid – also known as the “I can’t be bothered to work” syndrome.

I’m not about to say I’m happy to see Starmer taking money from the hands of disabled people, but my suspicion is that many benefit claimants are – forgive the pun – ‘taking the PIP’. We need to get these people off the sofa and into the workplace. And, to his credit, it seems Starmer’s got the guts to do it.

Getting Britain working

I seem to have just used the name of Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall’s White Paper for my subheading. Yuck. However, we do indeed need to get Britain working again.

Youth unemployment is a particularly deep scar on our society. By the end of 2024, the youth unemployment rate was up to 14.8%. That’s 136,000 more than the previous year – so you can’t just tell me these are students too busy studying to get a job. 

This is the problem with the UK. We have a bloated welfare state that allows people to be career benefit claimants. The Benefit Cap rises as high as £25,000 a year. If you can rake in £25,000 without working, why would you work?

Seriously. You can try and tell me people feel a moral duty to work and have career ambitions, but the harsh reality is a considerable chunk of people do not give a damn. And we’re making it incredibly easy for them to leech off the state, sat at home watching Netflix while the rest of us go to work.

We all know the country’s gone soft since Covid. Deep down, we all know that. Mental health is the new trump card that cannot be challenged. It’s like having one of those dreaded black +4 cards in Uno – if someone lays that card on you, you have no right of reply but to suck up the consequences.

Let me be clear. I am absolutely not dismissing mental health concerns. 1 in 4 people will suffer from mental health problems in the UK, and that’s something very close to my heart.

However, 55% of the post-pandemic rise in disability benefits is down to mental health claims. Do we have a snowflake culture? You decide.

Keir’s got the blues

Starmer’s first six months in charge were a shade of flaming red. Tax, tax, tax, and tax again was the ethos. It was an absolute trainwreck.

But it seems Keir’s caught the blues when it comes to welfare – or should I say, workfare. As with abolishing NHS England, I’m sure there are plenty of Tory ministers sat quite contently, wishing they’d had the guts to do this.

I’m perfectly comfortable with Starmer’s war on the flabby state. It’s crucial that Starmer limits the fallout for disabled people when it comes to PIP. His eligibility criteria need to be tight enough to stop benefit scroungers, but not so tight that those who need and deserve support are squeezed out.

One thing’s for certain. Abolishing NHS England and tightening Britain’s benefits belt means the government has nowhere to hide. Cutting waiting lists and getting Britain back to work are now two flagship objectives the government will be held accountable for.

Starmer’s got some work to do.

Image: flickr/Number 10 (Simon Dawson)

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