This afternoon we had Liz Kendall’s long-awaited address in the Commons on Labour’s plans for welfare reform. The prospect of £5 billion worth of cuts to welfare has split the party in two, with fears of a rebellion growing over the weekend and into this week.
Her announcement was a mixed bag, including: restricting eligibility for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) so that only those who have the highest level of disability can claim the benefit and – to sweeten the deal for backbenchers – announcing that the government will not bring in vouchers for disability benefit or freeze PIP. One of the new lines that had not been trailed in advance was that under 22s would not be eligible for the health top-up of Universal Credit (UC). What’s the politics of all this? Will Labour MPs stomach Liz Kendall’s benefits crackdown?
Katy Balls speaks to The Spectator's new economics editor Michael Simmons and Stephen Bush, associate editor at the Financial Times.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Cindy Yu.
Her announcement was a mixed bag, including: restricting eligibility for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) so that only those who have the highest level of disability can claim the benefit and – to sweeten the deal for backbenchers – announcing that the government will not bring in vouchers for disability benefit or freeze PIP. One of the new lines that had not been trailed in advance was that under 22s would not be eligible for the health top-up of Universal Credit (UC). What’s the politics of all this? Will Labour MPs stomach Liz Kendall’s benefits crackdown?
Katy Balls speaks to The Spectator's new economics editor Michael Simmons and Stephen Bush, associate editor at the Financial Times.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Cindy Yu.
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