The UK is cutting welfare spending to urge people to work. Critics say
it will hurt the vulnerable
[March 19, 2025] By
JILL LAWLESS
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Labour Party government on Tuesday announced an
overhaul of the welfare system that it says will save the cash-strapped
administration 5 billion pounds ($6.5 billion). Critics claim it will
harm some of the U.K.’s most vulnerable people.
The government says the shakeup will help people who are currently
“written off” find jobs. It's a risky strategy for a party founded more
than a century ago to fight for the rights of working people, and it has
made trade unions and party supporters uneasy.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told lawmakers in the House of
Commons that the government had inherited a broken social security
system that is “failing the very people it is supposed to help and
holding our country back.”
She said Britain’s statistics are stark, with one in 10 working-age
people claiming a sickness or disability benefit, and “millions of
people who could work trapped on benefits.”
Blaming the Conservatives, who lost power in July after 14 years, for
damaging the economy and health system, Kendall said “the social
security system will always be there for people in genuine need.”
But she announced changes to the way disabilities are assessed.
Campaigners say that will make it harder for people to get and keep
benefits.
The changes, which will have to be approved by Parliament, are expected
to save more than 5 billion pounds by 2030.
Not everything is being cut. The overhaul also includes an
above-inflation increase to universal credit, one of the most common
welfare benefits. Kendall said 1 billion pounds will be spent to "tear
down barriers to work,” including new rules allowing welfare recipients
to try out paid jobs without losing their benefits.
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Incoming Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall
arrives at Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP
Photo/Thomas Krych, file)
 The government claims a lack of
support towards employment is trapping sick and disabled people in
economic inactivity. Kendall said that “in most comparable
countries” spending on sickness and disability benefits “is either
stable or falling – whilst ours continues to inexorably rise.”
The Disability Benefits Consortium, which represents more than 100
charities and organizations, said the “cruel” changes “will largely
hit those who are unable to work and rely on these benefits to
survive.”
Sarah Hughes, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said
the cuts would make it harder for people to get support and “will
only serve to deepen the nation’s mental health crisis.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer ’s center-left government has seen its
popularity plummet as it grapples with a sluggish economy and
creaking public services.
Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is due to make a spring budget
statement on March 26, and is expected to trim public spending to
make up for lower-than-expected tax takings and high borrowing
costs.
Tuesday’s welfare announcement followed weeks of speculation about
how deep the cuts would be.
Labour lawmaker Imran Hussain said that “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.”
Kendall said she understood “the worry and anxiety.”
“And I hope I’ve made it clear to the House today, I don’t start
from a position of being tough,” she said. “I start by precisely
from a position of compassion.”
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