Labour's welfare cuts to be tweaked amid threat of backbench rebellion
As criticism grow over Labour's planned benefit cuts, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall is set to introduce "non-negotiable" protections to the Welfare Reform Bill.
These measures aim to decrease the number of working-age individuals receiving sickness benefits, with the government projecting potential savings of £5 billion annually by the end of the decade.
The proposals involve stricter eligibility requirements for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the primary disability benefit in England, and reductions to the sickness-related component of Universal Credit (UC).
Last month, numerous Labour MPs implored the Prime Minister to reconsider the planned cuts, denouncing the proposals as "impossible to support".
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told the Guardian there will be extra protections added to the Bill when it is published next week.
She said: 'When we set out our reforms we promised to protect those most in need, particularly those who can never work.
'I know from my 15 years as a constituency MP how important this is. It is something I take seriously and will never compromise on.
'That is why we are putting additional protections on the face of the Bill to support the most vulnerable and help people affected by the changes.
'These protections will be written into law, a clear sign they are non-negotiable.'
A Government impact assessment published alongside the reforms warned some 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, across England, Scotland and Wales, could fall into relative poverty after housing costs as a result of the changes.
The proposals have received strong criticism from charities and campaign groups since they were announced by Ms Kendall in March. Recent research from Trussell found that around 340,000 more people in disabled households could face hunger and hardship by the end of the decade as a result of the changes.
Helen Barnard, director of policy at Trussell, stated that their calculations paint a more severe picture than previously anticipated "because we have looked at how many people are going to be pulled, not just into overall poverty but into the severest form of hardship."
She added that while Trussell supports the government's objective to reform employment support and facilitate more people entering the workforce, "these proposed cuts will utterly undermine this goal," adding that "slashing support will damage people's health and reduce their ability to engage in training and work."
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Daily Mail
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Today, our investigation can reveal that: The Home Office fears police patrols in northern France are depleted in the busy summer months as officers are redeployed to the south to help with the tourist season; One gendarme said there were simply 'not enough' officers to deal with the number of migrants, despite the UK's huge handout to bolster patrols; Smugglers are now launching dinghies further up the coast then having migrants wade into the sea to board them, where police will not intervene; A migrant detention centre that was supposed to be built in Dunkirk with British taxpayers' money appears to be just an empty industrial site after construction was delayed. His damning comments – caught on video by undercover Mail on Sunday reporters last week – reveal just how little French authorities are doing to prevent the record numbers of small-boat crossings. Pictured: Migrants set off aboard a small boat from the beach at Gravelines The findings sparked outcry from MPs last night, with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp slamming the French response as 'completely useless'. It is thought that well over 1,000 migrants are currently squatting in squalid camps around Calais and Dunkirk, waiting to take advantage of the calm summer seas to set sail for Britain. The Mail on Sunday found hundreds of men, women and children gathering around the town of Grande-Synthe, a suburb to the west of Dunkirk. Here they have established a self-sufficient commune akin to the notorious Calais 'jungle' that was shut down in 2016. Makeshift cafes feed dozens of hungry mouths, and barbers ply their trade. But these ramshackle settlements have also seen escalating violence between desperate migrants and callous people smugglers. Last weekend, a 27-year-old migrant from Yemen was shot twice at the jungle camp in neighbouring Loon-Plage, while two migrants and two security guards were killed in December. Frenzied activity surrounds a shopping centre in Grande-Synthe, where migrants top up on supplies before catching the free local bus service to and from the camps. It was here that our undercover reporters, posing as a family who wanted to get their Indian cousin across the Channel, met a young Sudanese migrant named Abbas, who led us to the headquarters of the kingpin people trafficker. After trekking through dense foliage and over a railway track, the group finally reached a small clearing dotted with tents, water stations and roaming chickens. Our reporters were interrogated by a series of henchmen, with one suspecting a police sting, before the boss finally emerged after almost an hour of nervous waiting. Wearing a blue hoodie and white baseball cap, the trafficker, who gave his name as Mamand, said he had boats up to 32ft long that could take around 55 migrants across the Channel at a cost of £1,270 each (€1,500) – meaning he could be pocketing up to £70,000 per trip. To aid his faltering English, Mamand used a cigarette lighter to illustrate how his boats slipped past beach patrols before being escorted to English waters by French maritime 'security'. Pictured: Migrants set off from Gravelines This is less than half what it often costs during winter, with the discounted price most likely due to the greater amount of business smugglers can do in fair weather. Smiling, he said the French police posed 'no problem' to his criminal enterprise. 'We send one boat, maybe the police take,' he said. 'But we take another [at the same time]. We send. We do not stop.' He told our undercover reporters: 'You can sleep here' ready for their crossing which 'may be tomorrow, maybe after tomorrow, maybe today. Which day water is good, if everything is good, we send.' To aid his faltering English, Mamand then used a cigarette lighter to illustrate how his boats slipped past beach patrols before being escorted to English waters by French maritime 'security'. Asked if this meant the French were helping the migrants, he replied: 'Only in water, help. If problem [with the dinghy in the water, they] come in. If no problem, go,' he said, waving his hands dismissively. Asked if this meant the journey was made easy, the trafficker replied: 'Yes.' His words underline growing frustration with the French navy, who have been accused of 'escorting' dinghies to English waters, intervening only if the boats run into trouble, but otherwise allowing their free passage. The following morning, the smuggler's claims played out with unerring accuracy. 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