
Labour's benefits reforms are absolutely necessary and long overdue
One overcast Saturday morning in 2002, I was holding an advice surgery for constituents in Castlemilk, the poverty-stricken housing estate in the south-east corner of my Glasgow Cathcart constituency.
It was a relatively quiet session, but a visit by two young men has remained in my memory ever since. They were about sixteen, had just left school and one of them (his mate was only there to offer moral support) wanted to know how to claim out-of-work benefits.
The boy was explicitly looking for long-term financial support that would excuse him from the task of ever having to seek work or full-time education. When I asked him what physical ailment prevented him from getting a job, he replied with a knowing smirk towards his friend: 'Bad back.'
I didn't ask if any of his own family members were claiming what was then known as Incapacity Benefit; I didn't have to. There were few families in the area, then or now, whose income didn't rely at least in part on the largesse of the state, despite the fact many members were of working age.
Even before I became an MP, I had toured my local constituency Labour Party branches urging members to support the Blair Government's efforts to reform the system.
I probably used many of the clichés and blithe assumptions that Labour MPs use today to defend their support of the Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, and her plans to institute genuinely radical reform: that Labour is the party of work, not of benefits.
The clue in the name! Many people on out-of-work benefits want to work; they just need more support to do so.
Neither of these statements is strictly true. Yes, Labour was founded to represent the working classes in Parliament. It's also true that one of its founders, Keir Hardie, had little time for those who chose worklessness over employment.
But culturally, today's party is dominated by middle class activists to whom the prospect of a Labour Government forcing benefit claimants into work is anathema. And while the claim that 'many' might prefer work to benefits is in some degree true, it is far too small a degree to make much difference to the economic necessity of reform.
And that is the fundamental challenge that Kendall and the Government face: if Britain is to be transformed in a way that will radically reduce the numbers claiming out-of-work benefits, it will need to disappoint – nay, enrage – many of its supporters.
It will need to annoy a large proportion of the people within the party itself, and also a considerable number of (well-paid and productively employed) media commentators and other stakeholders.
There is, of course, an economic case for reducing the cost to the state's finances. And this is especially crucial now because the excuses people come up with are getting more absurd.
In previous decades the preferred excuse of my young constituent and many others for claiming benefits was 'a bad back'. This is a conveniently unevidenced malady. But today more psychological – and therefore even less provable – ailments have become more popular among those hoping to leave the burden of honest labour behind them for a life of watching daytime TV.
The numbers claiming to suffer from stress, depression and even PTSD (which, oddly, affects many who have not served in the Armed Forces) has swelled the claimant numbers.
Britain simply can't afford to continue to fund a situation in which a large proportion of the population is allowed to claim benefits rather than earn a living and pay taxes. This is a truth that can either be faced now, when there remains some opportunity to address it, or in the future, when the rot will have gone too far to stop the country from sliding into national decline and bankruptcy.
Which is where the moral case for Kendall's mission comes in. Labour's Left-wing has been most vocal in its opposition to reform, which is only to be expected: what is the point of being on the Left at all if you don't seize every available opportunity to broadcast your morally superior concerns for poor people that callous Right-wingers, even in your own party, don't care about?
But there is no moral case for living off the hard-earned taxes of those who actually have a job. And there is nothing noble about allowing those who suffer from a range of mental illnesses to remain at home when you know that having a job and working side-by-side with colleagues will do far more to improve their mental health than the status quo ever could.
These are hard truths that previous Governments, including the Labour Government I served, managed to avoid. Electoral considerations always prevailed over the optimistic rhetoric of ministers. This meant that reform was downgraded to a mere tinkering at the edges of the benefits system.
Kendall's appointment as Work and Pensions Secretary was one of Keir Starmer's most astute decisions. She is ambitious and supremely capable. But more importantly she understands what is at stake if she fails. She is far from the heartless caricature that her opponents in the Labour Party describe. In fact she could well be the saviour of countless working class communities that have been scarred by generations of political failure.
But that success depends on difficult short-term decisions that will be drastically unpopular and which will have some painful consequences for some people. It would be easy for the Government to abandon this project for the sake of electoral advantage and popularity. That would be more than a mistake: it would be a betrayal of the very people the Labour Party claims to represent.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The National
9 minutes ago
- The National
What does the Winter Fuel Payment U-turn mean for Scottish pensioner?
The Chancellor announced on Monday the payment, worth up to £300, will be restored to anyone of pension age with an income of under £35,000 a year. But what does this mean for Scotland? The Scottish Government was due to take over responsibility for winter fuel payments in September but the introduction of a new universal benefit was delayed after the UK Government decided to start means-testing the payment. In November, it was announced a devolved benefit would be created, giving £100 for all pensioner households, with those on pension credit due to receive £200 or £300 depending on their age. It is set to be introduced ahead of this winter. While Scotland can still boast that the £100 payment is universal whereas the English and Welsh payment is not, it means a cohort of Scottish pensioners – those with income less than £35,000 – will now receive less than their English counterparts. READ MORE: Former SNP MP hits out at 'foolish' Hamilton by-election campaign Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said ministers were not consulted on the major U-turn and has urged the UK Government to ensure the Scottish Government is 'fully appraised' of the proposed changes 'as soon as possible'. She said: 'I welcome any extension of eligibility by the UK Government, but this is a U-turn the Chancellor should have made a long time ago. 'But there is still no detail about how the Chancellor intends to go about that. Unfortunately, it still sounds as if many pensioners will miss out.' The Scottish Government now has a decision to make as to whether it makes any changes to the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment on the back of the announcement. Scottish Labour is calling for the extra money the Scottish Government will receive as a result of Barnett consequentials to increase the current offer. Labour MSP Paul O'Kane said: 'The SNP must re-examine their own proposals in light of this game-changing announcement, ensure payments reach those most in need, and give a cast-iron guarantee that no struggling Scottish pensioners will be left out of pocket under their plans.'

The National
15 minutes ago
- The National
What does the Winter Fuel Payment U-turn mean for Scotland?
The Chancellor announced on Monday the payment, worth up to £300, will be restored to anyone with an income of under £35,000 a year. But what does this mean for Scotland? The Scottish Government was due to take over responsibility for winter fuel payments in September but the introduction of a new universal benefit was delayed after the UK Government's decision to start means-testing the payment. In November, it was announced a devolved benefit would be created of £100 for all pensioner households, with those on pension credit due to receive £200 or £300 depending on their age. It is to be introduced ahead of this winter. While Scotland can still boast that the £100 payment is universal whereas the English and Welsh payment is still not, it means a cohort of Scottish pensioners – those with income less than £35,000 – will now receive less than their English counterparts. READ MORE: Former SNP MP hits out at 'foolish' Hamilton by-election campaign Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said ministers were not consulted on the major U-turn and has urged the UK Government to ensure the Scottish Government is 'fully appraised' of the proposed changes 'as soon as possible'. She said: 'I welcome any extension of eligibility by the UK Government, but this is a U-turn the Chancellor should have made a long time ago. 'But there is still no detail about how the Chancellor intends to go about that. Unfortunately, it still sounds as if many pensioners will miss out.' The Scottish Government now has a decision to make as to whether it makes any changes to its own Pension Age Winter Heating Payment on the back of the announcement. Scottish Labour is calling for extra money the Scottish Government will receive as a result of Barnett consequentials to increase the current offer. Labour MSP Paul O'Kane said: 'The SNP must re-examine their own proposals in light of this game-changing announcement, ensure payments reach those most in need, and give a cast-iron guarantee that no struggling Scottish pensioners will be left out of pocket under their plans.'


Daily Mirror
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Brits should learn Russian if defence spending isn't ramped up, NATO chief warns
NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, speaking at an event in central London, warned that Vladimir Putin will be able to mount a credible threat against the bloc within five years, with missiles able to reach European capitals in minutes The boss at NATO said Brits should learn to "speak Russian" if the Government does not massively ramp up defence spending. The defence bloc's secretary general, Mark Rutte, warned that Putin's regime will be able to mount a credible threat against Europe within five years - and said civilians need to be ready. Mr Rutte, speaking after a meeting with Keir Starmer in Downing Street, voiced his alarm about Russian missile capabilities - and said defence systems are "not enough" to meet the incoming threat. He said member states must commit to spending 5% of their economic output on defence. The NATO chief said: " Let's not kid ourselves. We are all on the eastern flank now. The new generation of Russian missiles travel at many times the speed of sound. "The distance between European capitals is only a matter of minutes. There is no longer an east or west, there's just NATO." And he went on to warn that China is expanding its military at "breakneck speed". He said that if defence spending is not ramped up: "You'd better learn to speak Russian. I mean, that's the consequence." Speaking at Chatham House in central London he said: "The home front and the front line are now one and the same. War is no longer fought at a distance. Our societies and militaries are in this together." It piles further pressure on Mr Starmer, who has committed to spending 3% of GDP to make Britain "battle ready" - but the PM has yet to set out when that will be achieved. Mr Rutte said: "5% is not some figure plucked from here. It's grounded in hard facts. The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defense. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defense plans in full. The fact this danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends." And he went on: " History has taught us that to preserve peace, we must prepare for war. Wishful thinking will not keep us safe. We cannot dream away the danger. Hope is not a strategy. So NATO has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance. " Mr Rutte said NATO must become "more lethal", adding: "No one should even think about attacking us." Earlier Mr Starmer told him: ""We see NATO as the cornerstone of our defence. The most effective military alliance the world has ever seen, as has been proven over 80 years." Speaking about the upcoming NATO summit, the PM added: "The task of the summit obviously is to make sure that for decades to come it serves exactly that same purpose." Mr Rutte said: "I want to commend you for the strategic defence review. It is really very good stuff. It is not only about the traditional things, of course we need them, like ammunition... there is also drones, innovation, building the defence industrial base. It is really broad, it is really making a big impression in Brussels I can tell you." Last week the PM warned the UK faces a "moment of danger and threat", saying during a speech in Glasgow: "Every part of society, every citizen of this country, has a role to play because we have to recognise that things have changed. In the world of today, the front line, if you like, is here."