Early evening summary
Russia has announced that it is imposing a travel ban on 30 Britons it deems anti-Russian, including 15 cabinet ministers. (See 5.02pm.) The announcement came after a British diplomat was expelled from Moscow for allegedly spying – a charge the UK government has dismissed as baseless. (See 4.29pm.)
Campaigners, charities and thinktanks have broadly welcomed proposals in the government’s Get Britain Working white paper to boost employment – but warned that the positive impact of the plans could be undermined by benefit cuts expected to be confirmed at some point in the future. (See 11.17am and 5.54pm.)
Updated
Charities and thinktanks welcome employment white paper, but express concern about future disability benefit cuts
At the weekend Keir Starmer wrote an article for the Mail on Sunday about his plans for employment and welfare reform. It generated perhaps the first ever positive headline he has received in the paper, not because it included a vague reference to his plans to devolve some aspects of employment policy to local government (see 12.22pm and 2.46pm), but because Starmer said he would cut welfare spending.
The Mail on Sunday: STARMER DECLARES WAR ON BENEFITS BRITAIN #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/fT2jynJsgh
— George Mann (@sgfmann) November 23, 2024
In fact, most of Starmer’s article was about the value of work, but it included this passage that secured him the splash.
No more business as usual.
We must go further. That’s why, in the coming months, Mail on Sunday readers will see even more sweeping changes.
Because, make no mistake, we will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society.
And don’t get me wrong – we will crack down hard on anyone who tries to game the system, to tackle fraud so we can take cash straight from the banks of fraudsters. There will be a zero-tolerance approach to these criminals.
Today’s Get Britain Working white paper says almost nothing about these implied benefit cuts. But a lot of decisions about disability benefits have been postponed, and the government is still committed to obtaining savings from changes to the work capability assessment first announced by the Tories (although how those savings are obtained may change). Charities and thinktanks, while broadly positive about what has been announced today, have expressed concern about what is coming down the track. Here are some of their comments.
Mark Rowland, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, welcomed the approach taken by the white paper. He said.
For too long, the discussion around enabling people who are too unwell to work to return to the workplace has been toxic and unrelated to the real experiences of people in receipt of benefits. Our own research shows that people on low incomes in the UK experience poverty stigma, which is associated with worse mental health. We’re pleased to see the ‘Get Britain Working’ white paper – and the language of government spokespeople talking about this announcement - suggest a departure from this narrative.
This seems a reference to interviews like Alison McGovern’s this morning. (See 10.07am.)
But Rowland also said there were “worrying” elments in the white paper.
References in the white paper to sanctions remain worrying, and the wait to hear about changes to the work capability assessment will be concerning for many, so we urge the government to publish their proposals for the welfare system as soon as possible.
James Taylor, director of strategy at the disability equality charity Scope, said:
There much that is positive about this white paper. The Connect to Work scheme and a desire to enhance the role of employers are both promising developments.
But we still know there’s still a huge amount of anxiety about what changes the government is planning to make to the benefits system.
Disabled people fear being forced into unsuitable jobs, or losing benefits if they engage with employment services. This lack of trust could seriously undermine the government’s plans to boost employment.
Iain Porter, senior solicy adviser at Joseph Rowntree Foundation thinktank, said
The white paper is an important first step towards rebooting the relationship between employment services and disabled people away from a culture of blaming and shaming and towards genuinely supporting people back to work.
Many of the reforms announced today are rightly focused on tackling the root causes holding people back from decent work including by encouraging employers to recruit and retain disabled people and intervene early to help people stay in work.
However, these positive first steps risk being undermined by the government’s commitment to £3bn of cuts to the health and disability benefits budget, if this simply comes from removing support for disabled people. Putting arbitrary cost savings ahead of effective reforms leaves a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the disabled people on low incomes who rely on health and disability benefits.
And Tom Pollard, head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation thinktank, said:
The high number of people out of work due to disabilities and poor health is symptomatic of long-term government failure to help people to stay well and, where possible, in work, so it is welcome to see new government plans today to improve support …
If the government is going to fulfil its ambition of delivering more effective employment support, it must resist pressure to focus on short-term savings or being ‘tough’ on people on benefits.
Updated
