Starmer faces union backlash over benefits cuts

Telegraph

12-03-2025

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a union backlash over plans to cut welfare.
Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), warned the Prime Minister that cuts to benefit payments would 'only make the current challenges worse'.
The remarks from the senior union figure mark his first intervention on Labour's plans to crack down on welfare payments, expected in the Spring Statement later this month.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is expected to make £5 billion in savings through tougher tests on a disability benefit called personal independence payments (PIP), designed to help with extra costs caused by the disability.
Mr Nowak said: 'A major lesson from the Tory years is that austerity damaged the nation's health. We must not make the same mistake again.
'Pushing disabled people into hardship with cuts to support will only make the current challenges worse – and will not win public support.'
He added: 'The Government's plan to Make Work Pay will ensure more better jobs. But cutting PIP is not the solution – not least because it enables many disabled people to access work so that they do not have to rely on out-of-work benefits.'
The union backlash to the proposals piles further pressure on the Prime Minister and Chancellor, who are also coming under fire from their own back benches.
Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, said that Labour was 'getting it badly wrong on this'.
She told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'It was wrong when David Cameron cut welfare, it would be wrong for us to do that now, because it's not disabled people who crashed the economy, or who were responsible for low wages or rising rents or falling living standards, and we must not scapegoat them for the failures and the political choices of Conservative government.'
Sir Keir faces the biggest rebellion of his premiership over the cuts, with about 80 Labour MPs said to oppose the proposals to rein in public spending through radical welfare reforms.
It is the latest in a string of controversial decisions on the two-child benefit cap, winter fuel payments, overseas aid and compensation for Waspi women which are causing anger among Labour MPs.
The TUC boss said that reforms to the system were needed as it had 'too much of a one-size-fits-all approach' and that assessors 'lack medical expertise'.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Nowak added: 'The Government should prioritise fixing these problems, with input from trade unions and organisations led by disabled people.'
PIPs can be worth up to £9,600 a year and are designed to cover extra costs for people with disabilities and other health issues.
Since they were introduced in 2013, the number of people using them has increased, especially for those citing mental health and anxiety issues.
The expected changes would also raise the basic rate for Universal Credit paid to those searching for work, or in work, while cutting the rate for those judged as unfit for work.
Some of the savings will be invested into employment support for those looking for a job.
It comes as Sir Keir is grappling with the twin challenges of funding a rise in defence spending and plugging a £9 billion fall in the Government's fiscal headroom.