Torsten Bell grilled by Victoria Derbyshire on benefit reform
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Torsten Bell takes Treasury Questions in Parliament
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Top Labour minister Torsten Bell was left squirming last night after being asked whether he could survive on the same amount as benefit recipients under new government plans. Newsnight host Victoria Derbyshire asked the damning question, after revealing the Government’s new policy will leave some young people living on as little as ￡70 a week.
She asked: “For those who can’t [work] they’re going to be living off about ￡70 a week. Could you live on 70 quid a week.” Mr Bell confessed “absolutely not”, prompting the BBC presenter to ask: “So why do you expect young people to?” The minister insisted: “We’re not! We provide housing benefit as well and Personal Independence Payments for those who need it.”
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Torsten Bell snapped when questioned about Labour's welfare cuts (Image: BBC)
After she cut him off to specify she was talking about “cash in their pocket”, Mr Bell tersely sniped back: “So are the things I’ve just mentioned to you. So are the things I just mentioned to you. That’s how the benefits system works.
“If people need help with their rent they receive that as well. If they need support for their disability, PIP is there for that.
“What I’m saying to you is the current benefits system is a disaster for those young people. It’s all well and good to say you don’t like every aspect of these changes but what you are defending is a Tory system…
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“There’s not enough focus on the disaster that is happening today. We’re seeing much faster growth in claims for disability benefits than we are seeing actual levels of disability, particularly for young people.”
The interview sparked strong backlash, with left-wing commentator Aaron Bastani observing: “This Labour MP make the terminator T-800 seem sensitive and emotionally intelligent.”
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Victoria Derbyshire said some young people will be left with just ￡70 (Image: BBC)
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Former Labour advisor and GB News regular Matthew Torbitt slammed: “In just a few seconds, a junior minister totally incapable of communicating a message with empathy just seems to reiterate people’s feelings that this government doesn’t care about them.”
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty tweeted that the “car crash” interview “illustrates everything that’s wrong with this Labour Government; Entitled, arrogant and over-promoted having become a Minister after six months in Parliament.”
He added: “This is supposedly the best of Labour’s new MPs.”
Another X user pointed out that prior to becoming an MP, Mr Bell wrote an article in his role as head of the Resolution Foundation think tank arguing: “It’s immoral to push children into poverty.”
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Downing Street has insisted there is a “moral and an economic case” for the overhaul, which will involve tightening the eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (PIP).
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced yesterday that she will scrap work capability assessments, freeze the health element rates of Universal Credit, and ramp up health work assessments to force those claiming benefits to prove they cannot work.
The total package represents around ￡5 billion in cuts to the country’s swelling welfare bill.