Keir Starmer has been warned by a key ally not to repeat the mistakes of Tory austerity with controversial cuts to benefits.
In rare public criticism of the Labour government, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said on Wednesday that leaked plans to slash disability support “is not the solution”.
General Secretary Paul Nowak warned: “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.”
While he said trade unions share minister’s hopes to improve the nation’s health, he went on: “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 comments come amid mounting criticism of plans to cut billions from welfare in plans due to be announced next week by DWP Secretary Liz Kendall. It has been reported the government is seeking to cut £5billion from PIP – a benefit that helps people with extra living and mobility costs linked to their disability. It is paid regardless of employment status.
A leak of the plans suggests ministers are planning to make it harder for people to qualify for the payments which charities have already warned would be “catastrophic”. There are also suggestions payments could be frozen next year so it does not increase in line with inflation.
Earlier this week Keir Starmer warned Labour MPs the government could not “shrug our shoulders and look away” from problems in the welfare system. The PM said he was “not afraid to take the big decisions” to “fix what is broken” as he addressed a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday evening.
He is also expected to invite Labour MPs into No10 to discuss the plans as public criticism of the plans mounts. On Tuesday the Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan warned cuts to benefits “feels like a rerun of austerity” and will increase levels of poverty.
The MP for Poole said: “Cuts to benefits don’t make jobs – they only make more poverty in our society and that’s why I’m very worried about some of the things I’m reading.” He added: “It feels like a rerun of austerity and I’m worried about that.”
Rachael Maskell, the MP for York Central, said that she has had a “flurry of emails” from people who are “deeply concerned” about the prospect of changes to the system. She said: “We recognise the economic circumstances that we’re in and the hand that we were given and of course it is right that the Chancellor has oversight over all those budgets but not at the expense of pushing disabled people into poverty.”