UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will unveil fresh social security reforms, focusing on getting people into work and investing in apprenticeships
LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce a new push to reform Britain’s social security system on Monday.
This follows a rebellion by over 120 of his own MPs last summer that blocked earlier proposed changes, including cuts to disability and sickness benefits.
Starmer will defend his government’s economic policy and return to the welfare issue in a major speech.
“We have to confront the reality that our welfare state is trapping people, not just in poverty, but out of work,” he will say, according to released extracts.
The government would invest in apprenticeships for young people as part of the reforms.
“We must also reform the welfare state itself,” Starmer will add.
He will argue the current system fails people with long-term health conditions.
“If you are simply written off because you’re neurodivergent or disabled, then it can trap you in a cycle of worklessness and dependency for decades,” the Prime Minister will state.
That situation “costs the country money, is bad for our productivity, but most importantly of all — costs the country opportunity and potential.”
Starmer is also expected to announce measures to reduce business regulations.
The speech follows last week’s budget, which proposed higher taxes to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Finance Minister Rachel Reeves has denied Conservative accusations that she misrepresented the state of public finances ahead of the budget.
Opinion polls suggest the Labour government is struggling on several fronts, including its perceived failure to promote economic growth.
Many Labour MPs have complained of a disconnect between Starmer’s leadership, focused on countering the hard-right Reform UK party, and the party’s traditional centre-left principles. – AFP
