Latest news with #benefits
BBC News
5 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Kemi Badenoch accuses Starmer and Farage of 'fantasy economics'
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of indulging in "fantasy economics" over their approaches to welfare in the Daily Mail, Badenoch says both leaders believe in getting struggling taxpayers to "fund unlimited child support for others".Her commentary comes after the Labour government indicated that it was looking at the possibility of scrapping the two-child benefit said earlier this week that his party would also get rid of the policy and back more generous tax breaks for married people. Badenoch added the country could not "afford their fantasy economics" and that Britain deserved leaders who did not "treat economics like a branch of showbiz"."This week we have seen Labour and Reform in a race to the bottom to scrap the two-child benefit cap," she wrote."Starmer and Farage now believe in getting taxpayers - many of whom are struggling to raise their own children or choosing not to have them in the first place - to fund unlimited child support for others."The Conservatives have said the policy - which they introduced - of limiting means-tested benefits to just two children in most families should not be UK have pledged to remove the cap if they win power, but have not detailed how they would fund the billions it, and all their other pledges, would cost. In a speech this week, Farage said he wanted to lift the cap "not because we support a benefits culture" but because it would ease the burden on lower-paid Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said the government is looking at scrapping the two-child benefit cap but warned it would "cost a lot of money".Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show last week, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner refused to confirm whether the government would remove the has also grown from Labour backbenchers over the issue since the party's poor performance at the local elections earlier this attack comes after Farage said this week the Conservatives had become an "irrelevance".For his part, Sir Keir said the Conservatives had "run out of road", were in "decline" and "sliding into the abyss". Badenoch argued her party was now "the only major political party to take a serious look at the welfare state".
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Kemi Badenoch takes aim at Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer for 'race to the bottom' over welfare handouts as Tory leader accuses rivals of asking taxpayers to 'fund unlimited child support for others'
Kemi Badenoch has blasted Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer for being in a 'race to the bottom' over welfare handouts. In a feisty attack on the Reform and Labour leaders, Mrs Badenoch said the pair believed in getting taxpayers to fund 'unlimited child support for others' by scrapping the two-child benefit cap. Writing in the Mail, the Tory leader branded the benefit unfair and unsustainable, because welfare 'traps people' and 'drives up costs for everyone'. Instead, she said the Conservatives were now the 'only serious party of sound money' and warned that Britain 'can't afford the fantasy economics of Starmer and Farage', who 'treat economics like a branch of showbiz'. Mrs Badenoch's intervention came after Mr Farage this week pledged a spending splurge of up to £85 billion – including generous benefit increases. The Reform leader said his party would scrap the two-child benefit cap because 'it's the right thing to do', and would fully reverse the winter fuel payment cut. And yesterday, following months of pressure from his own MPs, the Prime Minister gave a hint that he too could scrap the two-child cap after previously ruling it out. Mrs Badenoch said the country was facing a choice between 'sound money and soothing delusions', because 'Keir Starmer can't tell you what he stands for, Nigel Farage can't tell you how he'll pay for anything'. To keep taxes low, the Tory leader added, 'we must cut waste and end the inherent unfairness where some work ever harder for smaller rewards – to pay for others' benefits'. 'We're now the only major political party prepared to take a serious look at the welfare state,' she wrote. Mrs Badenoch said her party believed in 'personal responsibility', and welfare as a 'safety net' rather than a 'way of life'. She wrote: 'This week we have seen Labour and Reform in a race to the bottom to scrap the two-child benefit cap. 'Apparently, Starmer and Farage now believe in getting taxpayers – many of whom are struggling to raise their own children or choosing not to have them in the first place – to fund unlimited child support for others. 'That's not fair, it's not sustainable and it's not even compassionate. Welfare traps people, builds dependency and it drives up costs for everyone. 'While Labour and Reform are content to make promises they can't keep, I won't. The Conservatives are going to be the party of sound money and fiscal responsibility once again.' In his speech on Tuesday, Mr Farage insisted that while he does not support a 'benefits culture', scrapping the two-child benefit cap would make having children 'just a little bit easier' for lower-paid workers. 'It's not a silver bullet, it doesn't solve all of those problems. But it helps them,' he said. But his spending plans have come under fire this week, with critics saying they have been based on 'implausible' calculations. Alongside his pledges on the two-child benefit cap and winter fuel allowance, Mr Farage also vowed to raise the threshold for the basic rate of income tax to £20,000. But the sums he said the party had identified as potential savings to pay for the handouts were soon debunked, as economists warned that the proposals were on a par with Liz Truss's mini-budget 'and likely much larger'. Mrs Badenoch warned that 'Jeremy Corbyn's 'magic money tree' is back but this time it has a Reform UK sticker on it'. Mr Farage faced further questions yesterday after it emerged that he was in Las Vegas last night to speak at a conference promoting Bitcoin. Yesterday, a rattled Sir Keir used a seven-minute speech to attack the Reform leader's policies, warning his plans would cost 'billions upon billions upon billions'. Behind in the polls, the Prime Minister said of Mr Farage: 'Can you trust him? Can you trust him with your future? Can you trust him with your jobs? Can you trust him with your mortgages, your pensions, your bills? 'He gave the answer on Tuesday. A resounding no.' Mr Farage had pitched Reform UK as 'the party of working people' rather than Labour, and accused Sir Keir of having no connection to the working class. But the PM hit back, saying: 'I don't need lessons from Nigel Farage about the issues that matter most to working people in this country.' Asked why he was focusing so much on Reform UK, the Prime Minister claimed the Tories had 'run out of road'. He said the choice for voters was now between Labour and Reform UK, but Reform's chairman Zia Yusuf said Sir Keir's speech in the North-West showed it was 'panic stations at Labour'. Labour is also looking at lifting the two-child cap, with an announcement expected this autumn. Sir Keir initially dodged questions about the policy yesterday, saying he was looking at 'all options' to drive down child poverty. 'There isn't a single bullet, but I'm absolutely determined that we will drive this down, and that's why we'll look at all options, always, of driving down child poverty,' he told reporters at a glass factory in Merseyside. The cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third or additional child born after April 2017, but axing it would cost around £3.5 billion. Mr Farage hit back at Sir Keir, accusing him of stoking 'Project Fear 2.0' – the name Brexiteers gave to Remain scaremongers during the Brexit campaign. 'In the last 24 hours I have been subjected to political attacks by everybody from Keir Starmer to (Scottish First Minister) John Swinney because Reform UK are winning,' he told The Sun. 'The Prime Minister is now resorting to dirty tricks borrowed from the 2016 referendum campaign. This is Project Fear 2.0.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Revealed: how much the highest earners pay towards Britain's benefits bill
Britain's ballooning welfare state bill is costing the top 10pc of earners at least £6,281 a year each, Telegraph analysis shows. Almost a third of all income tax revenue and National Insurance contributions are being spent servicing the nation's benefits bill. Welfare spending totalled £296bn in 2023-24, the last year for available data, an increase of £86bn compared to a decade ago. Analysis by The Telegraph shows a worker earning £72,150 a year, equivalent to being in the top 10pc of earners, pays £19,746 in income tax and National Insurance. Of this, £6,281 – or 32pc – is spent on welfare benefits. The majority (£2,553) goes towards the state pension and other old-age benefits. But a similar amount (£2,247) is spent on unemployment benefits in the form of Universal Credit and disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payments (PIP). PIP is the main non-means-tested benefit for those with health conditions or disabilities, with payments of up to £9,500 a year to help people with living costs and getting around. However, the cost of the benefit has spiralled since lockdown, and is on course to climb from £15bn in 2019-20 to £36bn in real terms by the end of the current Parliament. Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, told The Telegraph: 'Our welfare system is on a path to becoming completely unsustainable and Labour are asleep at the wheel. Since the pandemic we've seen a particularly steep rise in the numbers of people on benefits for health problems or disabilities, and it is set to continue spiralling higher still. 'We need fundamental reform to get the bill down and move people off welfare and into jobs. Without radical action the burden on taxpayers will only continue to rise.' The Telegraph's data relates to spending made in the 2023-24 financial year based on analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It also found the median full-time worker, earning £38,000 a year, pays £2,265 in taxes towards benefits. Their taxes contribute a further £1,455 towards the NHS and £817 is spent paying off the interest on the Government's £2.7 trillion worth of debt. For an additional rate taxpayer earning £125,140 a year, almost £15,000 (£14,960) of their income goes towards the welfare state and £10,000 (£9,608) is spent on the NHS. The Office for Budget Responsibility has forecasted welfare spending will total £378bn by the end of the decade. However, this calculation was made prior to Sir Keir Starmer's £5bn about-turn last week when he decided to reinstate the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners amid growing anger from his backbench MPs and Labour's dismal performance in this month's local elections. Reinstating the pensioner benefit will cost the Treasury £1.5bn. The Prime Minister is also considering axing the two-child benefit cap, which would cost the Treasury another £3.5bn. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Revealed: how much the highest earners pay towards Britain's benefits bill
Britain's ballooning welfare state bill is costing the top 10pc of earners at least £6,281 a year each, Telegraph analysis shows. Almost a third of all income tax revenue and National Insurance contributions are being spent servicing the nation's benefits bill. Welfare spending totalled £296bn in 2023-24, the last year for available data, an increase of £86bn compared to a decade ago. Analysis by The Telegraph shows a worker earning £72,150 a year, equivalent to being in the top 10pc of earners, pays £19,746 in income tax and National Insurance. Of this, £6,281 – or 32pc – is spent on welfare benefits. The majority (£2,553) goes towards the state pension and other old-age benefits. But a similar amount (£2,247) is spent on unemployment benefits in the form of Universal Credit and disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payments (PIP). PIP is the main non-means-tested benefit for those with health conditions or disabilities, with payments of up to £9,500 a year to help people with living costs and getting around. However, the cost of the benefit has spiralled since lockdown, and is on course to climb from £15bn in 2019-20 to £36bn in real terms by the end of the current Parliament. Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, told The Telegraph: 'Our welfare system is on a path to becoming completely unsustainable and Labour are asleep at the wheel. Since the pandemic we've seen a particularly steep rise in the numbers of people on benefits for health problems or disabilities, and it is set to continue spiralling higher still. 'We need fundamental reform to get the bill down and move people off welfare and into jobs. Without radical action the burden on taxpayers will only continue to rise.' The Telegraph's data relates to spending made in the 2023-24 financial year based on analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It also found the median full-time worker, earning £38,000 a year, pays £2,265 in taxes towards benefits. Their taxes contribute a further £1,455 towards the NHS and £817 is spent paying off the interest on the Government's £2.7 trillion worth of debt. For an additional rate taxpayer earning £125,140 a year, almost £15,000 (£14,960) of their income goes towards the welfare state and £10,000 (£9,608) is spent on the NHS. The Office for Budget Responsibility has forecasted welfare spending will total £378bn by the end of the decade. However, this calculation was made prior to Sir Keir Starmer's £5bn about-turn last week when he decided to reinstate the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners amid growing anger from his backbench MPs and Labour's dismal performance in this month's local elections. Reinstating the pensioner benefit will cost the Treasury £1.5bn. The Prime Minister is also considering axing the two-child benefit cap, which would cost the Treasury another £3.5bn.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Is Labour being outflanked on the left by Nigel Farage?
Nigel Farage seems to have upstaged the Labour government, pledging to scrap the controversial two-child benefit cap and reverse the cuts to the winter fuel allowance. So why hasn't the government – after almost a year in power – done more to end child poverty? Gaby Hinsliff, in for John Harris, speaks to the Labour MP Stella Creasy and columnist Polly Toynbee
