Starmer clashes with senior MP over welfare reform

Yahoo

3 days ago

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer clashed with one of his senior MPs over welfare reform as she said she felt 'ashamed' of the 'poor' legislation the Government had put forward.
Work and pensions committee chairwoman Debbie Abrahams said the welfare bill was 'far removed' from Labour values as she questioned the Prime Minister at the Liaison Committee.
She asked Sir Keir what he would like to say to the disabled people who experienced 'fear and anxiety' before the Government made concessions on its bill.
'Well, it's very important that they feel secure and supported, and that is at the heart of what we are doing in the changes we are making to welfare and related areas,' he said.
Sir Keir said he did not accept that it would take several years before labour market changes allow more disabled people to be employed following Sir Charlie Mayfield's review, due in the autumn.
Mrs Abrahams asked what he would do to mitigate against a potential 50,000 newly disabled people being pushed into poverty.
Sir Keir said: 'I don't accept that everything is going to take years. Some changes do take years, but not all changes take years, and we have to do work in the interim to give that support to those with disabilities.'
Mrs Abrahams said she felt 'ashamed' of the 'poor' welfare legislation the Government put forward.
'This was poor legislation. It was designed to save money for the Treasury by cutting support to sick and disabled people.
'It was so far removed from Labour values of fairness and social justice, let alone compassion and common decency.
'I have to say I felt ashamed.'
After a year in office, Sir Keir was asked what he wanted the UK to look like at the end of his first term in No 10.
He said: 'I want people to feel better off and there has to be a central focus on living standards.
'I want them to feel – as they will – that the health service is working much better, is there for them and their families in a way that it hasn't been for many years.
'And I want them to feel safe and secure, both in their immediate neighbourhood and as a country, both our borders and national security and defence.
'So, they're the three things that I'm focused on more than anything else.'
Sir Keir's drive to improve the NHS could be derailed if resident doctors in England go ahead with strike action, which is due to begin on Friday.
The Tory government faced waves of strike action in the NHS, which contributed to care backlogs.
The Prime Minister has put international co-operation, including a promised one-in, one-out deal to return small boat migrants to France, at the heart of measures to control the borders.
But arrivals are running at record levels for this point in a year, with the latest Home Office showing 23,534 people had crossed in small boats so far in 2025.
The Liaison Committee, a panel made up of senior MPs who chair the various Commons select committees, was focusing on measures to tackle poverty.
The Prime Minister, who is under pressure from within his own party to scrap the two-child benefits cap, said: 'People will not feel better-off or safe and secure if we haven't tackled poverty.'
He said there were four 'limbs' to the Government's strategy: increasing incomes, decreasing costs, strengthening local support, including measures to get people into work and boosting financial resilience.
'I'm very proud of the fact that the last Labour government drove down poverty and I'm determined this Government is going to as well,' Sir Keir said.