Labour are on the back foot over benefit cuts (Image: Sky News)
Labour faced heavy criticism this morning for defending benefit cuts after years of opposing Tory plans to slash welfare spending.
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle was in the hot seat on Sky News this morning. He put the cuts down to a growing number of young people who are out of work, education or training.
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Keir Starmer faces his biggest rebellion yet, with dozens of Labour MPs angry at his plans to cut up to ￡6bn billion from the rising welfare bill and threatening to vote against freezing disability benefits.
The party was accused of "taking the high ground" as it defended its proposals.
Downing Street began inviting groups of Labour backbenchers to meetings on Wednesday, stressing the “moral case” for changes designed to get people back to work as they made the case for painful changes.
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Number 10 is said to have been shocked by the scale of anger from Labour MPs.
READ MORE: Moment Labour minister squirms in fiery Sky News clash: 'How was it missed?’
Keir Starmer is facing a revolt over his welfare plans (Image: Getty)
Asked about the looming revolt over benefits cuts, Mr Kyle said: “We have got to a situation where there’s a million young people, that’s one in eight young people, who are not in education, training or work, out of the economy.
“Both of these figures are growing. They’re not shrinking. So that means the system isn’t working. There are, in some cases, perverse incentives in the system. In other cases, we find that people who want to work simply aren’t being supported into work.
“We want to make sure the safety net is always there for people who need it the most, but we need to make sure it’s fit for the age we’re living in.”
But Sky News host Wilfred Frost said: “It’s a bit rich, the sort of whole way this is being framed, taking the moral high ground and making cuts and blaming the last Government who you railed against any time they suggested reforms of this ilk. Can you understand the sour taste that is leaving in the mouths of a lot of your own backbenches?”
The Science minister defended the Government, stating: “We’re the Labour Party. We care about the dignity of work. It is appalling that we’ve inherited a system that is ballooning.
“We don’t believe that Britain is a country where increasing numbers of people simply just want to be outside of the labour market, expressing their unique talents as individual people.”
Many Labour MPs are particularly concerned that Rachel Reeves is set to target personal independence payments.
Government officials believe that freezing the Pip would almost certainly require a vote on primary legislation, as certain benefits are protected by the Social Security Administration Act 1992, which states they should rise by inflation each year.
Incapacity and disability benefits currently cost ￡64.7billion and this is predicted to rise to ￡100.7billion by 2030. Civil servants face the axe under a new policy that states no person should do a job that technology or AI can do instead.
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Downing Street has denied it is taking a “chainsaw” to Whitehall but Sir Keir Starmer will warn the state is failing to deliver despite becoming bloated as civil servant numbers soar.
The Science Secretary told Times Radio that the proposals were aimed at driving efficiency.
Mr Kyle said: "The objective isn't to cut staff. The objective is actually to drive efficiencies within Government itself, to make work more rewarding within the civil service."
He added: "I think we will be reducing the head count, but the purpose of this is to make a more cost-effective, and efficient and effective, civil service, delivering better services for people in the digital age."
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About ￡1bn is expected to be ploughed into helping the long-term sick back into work after the welfare secretary faced down opposition from the Treasury ahead of ￡6bn cuts to the UK benefits budget.
At prime minister’s questions, Starmer told MPs that he understood the worries of disabled people and their families over the welfare cuts. He added: “But we inherited a system which is broken, it is indefensible, economically and morally, and we must and we will reform it.
“We will have clear principles, we will protect those who need protecting. We will also support those who can work back to work, but Labour is the party of work, we’re also the party of equality and fairness.”