While those with disabilities wait in trepidation to hear what Liz Kendall’s green paper will do, the whole country waits to glean the nature of this Labour government. Is it really going to reach down among the poorest and weakest to take £5bn to plug the deficit? Why take from them, not from those with the broadest shoulders, or from an even spread across all citizens?
Distraught Labour MPs echo Ed Balls’s words: “It’s not a Labour thing to do.” The number of rebels matters less than the incomprehensible message sent out about what Labour is. Party focus groups suggest voters think claimants swing the lead, but polls suggests otherwise: 27% say support is too mean, 26% that it is about right and just 26% that disability benefits are too generous. Wait for the hardship cases to swing fickle attitudes.
