The United Kingdom’s Labour Party cut welfare spending to boost the economy and save costs.
The reforms, unveiled on Tuesday afternoon in a Green Paper, aim to save £5 billion, or $6.5 billion, a year by 2030. These savings will come through the tightening of eligibility for health and disability benefits, setting up identity troubles for the party that founded the U.K.’s welfare state.
Justifying the decision, the plan points out that one out of every 10 working-aged people in Britain is on at least one kind of health or disability benefit. One in eight people aged 16-24 is neither in employment, education, nor training. Government welfare payments could amount to £70 billion, or $90.8 billion, by the end of this year, with all welfare- and health-related spending amounting to over half the U.K.’s 2023-2024 budget.
In comparison, defense spending made up just £68 billion, or $88.2 billion — 6% of the budget.
Speaking on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended the “biggest changes to the welfare system in a generation,” arguing that millions of people had become “trapped out of work and abandoned by the system.” He pledged to “always protect the most severely disabled people to live with dignity.”
He elaborated on his stance in an op-ed for the Sunday Times, pitching cuts to one of the most popular aspects of the Labour Party as needed to stay true to the biggest overriding principle of the party: work.
“Labour is the party of work,” Starmer wrote. “It is right there in our name. We are the party of workers, fighting for security, justice, and a fair wage. But we also believe work can and should provide a sense of pride, dignity, and respect. This is the beating heart of my politics.
“I believe every single worker should feel their contribution to the country is valued,” he continued. “That is why I am so determined to reform work with the biggest leveling-up of employment rights in a generation. And I have seen firsthand just how many barriers are put in the way of disabled people who simply want to get on.”
Starmer’s remarks that barriers are being put in the way of those on disability and health benefits refer to the argument the government is not properly supporting avenues toward employment for those on sick or disability benefits.
The stick of cuts is being insulated with the carrot of boosts elsewhere, including above-inflation increases to universal credit, one of the U.K.’s most common welfare benefits.
The plans must still be approved by Parliament.
After the plan’s announcement, criticisms came pouring in.
The Disability Benefits Consortium, representing over 100 charities and organizations, denounced the proposed cuts as “cruel,” saying it “will largely hit those who are unable to work and rely on these benefits to survive,” the Associated Press reported.
Sarah Hughes, the CEO of the mental health charity Mind, said cuts “will only serve to deepen the nation’s mental health crisis.”
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The plan even came under criticism from within Starmer’s own party.
“Thousands of the most severely disabled people in my constituency, and millions across the U.K., have watched in disbelief as politicians debate cuts to the support that enables their very survival, leaving many at breaking point,” Labour lawmaker Imran Hussain said.