The Telegraph carries a story under the title ‘Labour: We’ll scrap benefits for under 25s’. This has sent Labour supporters into mild panic. The party’s welfare spokesman, Rachel Reeves has said:
‘This is not and will not be our policy.’
‘It’s not our plan.’
‘It is totally not my position!’
Mark Ferguson, editor of Labour List, the grassroots website, says: ‘That all sounds pretty clear to me.’ While George Eaton of the New Statesman, who is close to the Labour leadership, has made some calls, and concluded: ‘Is Labour planning to scrap benefits for under-25s? [T]here is a definitive answer: no.’
So there you have it. The leadership and its supporters in the media have spent most of the morning clarifying the party line on welfare for the under-25. But this exercise was not for the benefit of Telegraph readers; it was to reassure the wider Labour movement.
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