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       Starmer's government has mastered the art of the U-turn (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

       Liz Kendall’s welfare reform bill managed to scrape through Parliament this week despite fierce opposition from backbenchers, many of whom seem to believe that bankrupting the country is the surest way to keep their seats at the next election. Never mind the looming threat of Reform, or the fact that public confidence in Labour is through the floor.

       As any Man Utd fan will tell you: it’s the hope that kills. Starmer’s government has turned humiliating U-turns into an art form. What started out as a “bold reset” ended up as a damp squib, with most of the bill’s original measures gutted, particularly those affecting current disability benefit claimants.

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       Instead of tightening the system, the amendments raised Universal Credit disability allowances by another ￡300 million. Reassessments were scaled back, constraints on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) watered down, and the proposed requirement for claimants to score at least four points in one assessment area won’t even apply until November 2026 – and only for new claims.

       In short: no existing claimant will lose a penny. The only substantive reform that passed was a cut to UC sickness benefits for new claimants, from ￡97 a week to ￡50, starting in 2026/27. It’s no wonder many MPs had no clue what they were actually voting for. The bill, once stripped bare, is barely worth the paper it’s printed on.

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       Even the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) pointed out that the plan “is not expected to deliver any savings over the next four years”, since the projected savings from cutting the health element of UC will be eaten up by the increase in standard allowances.

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       With welfare spending expected to hit ￡380billion by the end of the decade, and incapacity and disability benefits alone nearing ￡100billion, it’s starting to look like Labour MPs are operating in a parallel universe.

       Conservative Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride called the vote “farcical,” blaming the mess on the Government “rushing” the bill. He also warned that the markets will have noticed just how reluctant this government is to make hard choices on spending.

       And make no mistake, the markets are not stupid. No dynamic economy can survive when one in five working-age adults is on benefits. Every pound we throw at keeping the anxious and obese at home is a pound not being spent on upgrading infrastructure, rebuilding defence, or growing the economy. Long-term borrowing costs are almost guaranteed to rise, as investors clock a government too weak to trim even ￡5billion off an ever-bloating welfare bill.

       And blaming Starmer’s lack of backbone would be generous. This isn’t just a leadership failure. It’s a party-wide delusion. How can a movement that claims to stand for working people be so committed to keeping the bone idle at home?

       The answers are obvious to everyone but Labour. Yes, the disability benefits bill needs to come down. But just as urgently, we need to face the uncomfortable truth about the rise in mental health claims, now the leading reason for PIP awards, especially among the under-25s. Seventy per cent of PIP claims in this age group relate to mental health.

       Many of these cases involve things like anxiety or mild depression. And look, I don’t mean to be flippant, but being unemployed is naturally depressing and anxiety-inducing. That’s not a reason to award indefinite state support. What kind of country gives up on its young people so completely?

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       One in five working-age Brits is now claiming benefits, including PIP, UC, housing benefit, JSA, and carer’s allowance. Whatever happened to a ‘hand up, not a handout’? Has Labour lost the plot to the point where they see no issue with dishing out support to people who don’t need it?

       These are the same people who thought it wise to scrap winter fuel payments for pensioners – most of whom can’t go out and get a job – to save a few million. But trimming a ￡100billion welfare bill? Apparently, that’s morally untouchable.

       Liz Kendall, the new Work and Pensions Secretary, may have inherited a mess, but she’s done little to show she knows how to clean it up.

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       BBC viewers left speechless over Labour ministers' Commons ‘breakdown' live on air

       10 Comments

       Kemi Badenoch blazes at 'immoral' cost of benefits bill as country braces for tax raids

       266 Comments

       UK households handed ￡300 cost of living payments in July

       4 Comments

       Ed Balls issues devastating verdict on Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves

       54 Comments

       Rachel Reeves now knows what it feels like to be governed by Labour for one year

       143 Comments

       DWP ￡110 monthly payment more than a million are missing out on

       Comments

       UK households handed up to ￡2,550 with 4 benefits and freebies in July

       6 Comments

       Rachel Reeves may target millions with punishing income tax hikes to plug ￡40bn hole

       100 Comments

       POLL: Do you feel sorry for Rachel Reeves?

       545 Comments

       Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall hides during PMQs after benefit U-turn humiliation

       11 Comments

       State pensioners can get 10 freebies and discounts in July worth ￡14,214

       39 Comments

       Keir Starmer's welfare cuts narrowly pass as 49 furious MPs stage rebellion

       481 Comments

       Starmer sidekick torn to shreds in car crash interview after Labour climbdown

       6 Comments

       Rachel Reeves in the firing line as 'lame duck' Prime Minister plots reset

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       143 Comments

       DWP ￡110 monthly payment more than a million are missing out on

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       UK households handed up to ￡2,550 with 4 benefits and freebies in July

       6 Comments

       Rachel Reeves may target millions with punishing income tax hikes to plug ￡40bn hole

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       POLL: Do you feel sorry for Rachel Reeves?

       545 Comments

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       11 Comments

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       State pensioners can get 10 freebies and discounts in July worth ￡14,214

       39 Comments

       Keir Starmer's welfare cuts narrowly pass as 49 furious MPs stage rebellion

       481 Comments

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       Starmer sidekick torn to shreds in car crash interview after Labour climbdown

       6 Comments

       Rachel Reeves in the firing line as 'lame duck' Prime Minister plots reset

       27 Comments

       Kemi Badenoch demands disability benefits ban for foreigners

       40 Comments

       The 1 shocking graph that proves benefits in UK are out of control

       86 Comments

       PIP and UC climbdown could force tax rises to make up the savings, experts alert

       1 Comments

       ￡646 of freebies and discounts for people on Universal Credit in July

       1 Comments

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       33 Comments

       Blue badge update for people on PIP after welfare reform change

       68 Comments

       BBC viewers left speechless over Labour ministers' Commons ‘breakdown' live on air

       10 Comments

       Kemi Badenoch blazes at 'immoral' cost of benefits bill as country braces for tax raids

       266 Comments

       UK households handed ￡300 cost of living payments in July

       4 Comments

       Ed Balls issues devastating verdict on Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves

       54 Comments

       Rachel Reeves now knows what it feels like to be governed by Labour for one year

       143 Comments

       DWP ￡110 monthly payment more than a million are missing out on

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       UK households handed up to ￡2,550 with 4 benefits and freebies in July

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       Even ministers admit the system is buckling under the weight of demand, yet nothing is being done to draw a clear line between temporary setbacks and permanent incapacity. Instead of fixing this imbalance, Labour is content to paper over it.

       I’ve been stewed like a prune for even suggesting that PIP should be restricted to those with the most serious conditions. But it has to be said: the current system is unsustainable.

       This isn’t justice. It's cowardice dressed up as care. And the rest of us footing the bill aren’t fooled.