Despite the opposition of a huge swathe of Labour MPs, the government’s Welfare Bill managed to scrape over the line to the next parliamentary stage. But that was only after a humiliating U-turn that ditched almost all of the Bill’s original measures, at least in regard to existing claimants of disability benefits. What was originally pitched as the ‘biggest shake-up to the welfare system in a generation’, with the aim of getting millions of people into work (and saving £5 billion in the process) is no more.
Far from being the bold reset the country was promised, the Bill simply preserves a broken eligibility system that the government itself has acknowledged is not fit for purpose. Welfare spending is estimated to reach £380 billion by the end of the decade, with incapacity and disability benefits alone approaching £100 billion. This is more than the country currently spends on defence or education. Such a level of spending cannot continue without consequences.
The government should use the ministerial review, led by Sir Stephen Timms MP, to undertake the fundamental review they promised in the first place. That must start with two things.
First, it must reduce the £100 billion disability benefits bill. Second, it must reform how we deal with mental health conditions. That is because the number of people with physical disabilities have remained largely stable in recent years. In contrast, the number of those with mental health conditions has risen hugely since the pandemic. Mental health conditions are now the leading reason for disability benefit claims, particularly among younger people. Among those under 25, 70 per cent of all Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims relate to mental health. Many of these cases involve conditions such as anxiety or mild depression. These are not – or certainly should not, at least with proper support – conditions that entail a life time without working. However, the current benefits system often encourages long-term claims rather than recovery. People can become trapped in a cycle where worsening health is unintentionally rewarded. There is no doubt that the impact of the pandemic has certainly played a role in this rise, but the solution cannot be indefinite financial support that may deepen the difficulties instead of resolving them.
We should aim to lift people up, not write them off
Solving this means, first and foremost, recognising that the government must prioritise the provision of effective mental health treatment to help people to get jobs. It also means accepting that those on benefits with more minor mental health conditions should not be entitled to PIP or mobility allowance, which allows them access to a car. Whether this kind of reform applies to all those with mental health conditions or perhaps those under 30 or 40 is a matter to be discussed – but without radical changes, the Welfare Bill is unaffordable. Currently, the system still struggles to distinguish between those with severe, permanent conditions and those who could return to work with the right kind of help. The government itself has admitted that resources are spread too thinly, often leaving those with the greatest need under-supported. Their approach would allow this imbalance to continue. That is not just inefficient. It is unjust.
At its core, the problem is that our welfare system no longer reflects the values that most people believe in: fairness, responsibility, and aspiration. Every pound spent supporting someone who could work is a pound that cannot be spent on someone who cannot. This is more than a financial issue, it is a matter of justice. To truly help the most vulnerable, the system must stop offering blanket support to those with moderate or temporary needs.
The government still has the chance to champion a system whose primary purpose is to help more people move towards independence, particularly young adults who still have most of their lives ahead of them. The system should not, as it does now, encourage long-term dependence. We need more accurate assessments for mental health claims, stronger access to treatment services, and real collaboration with employers, charities and training providers. Employment should become the primary goal, and benefit levels must not discourage people from seeking work. This is not about punishment. It is about restoring fairness and financial sustainability to a system that has lost sight of both.
As someone who has had a serious disability since my teens, I genuinely hoped that a Labour government would use its huge majority to make the difficult but right choices – in this case in the interest of the millions of disabled people who have so much to offer.
The country needs a welfare approach built on ambition. We should aim to lift people up, not write them off. This is not a choice between cuts and compassion. The real choice is between keeping a failing system or building one that works. On Tuesday, it felt like Labour chose the former. Britain deserves the latter.
Comments