To underline that there was government agreement on the welfare cuts and reforms she was announcing, Liz Kendall had Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and a slew of other cabinet and senior ministers sitting behind her in the Commons. The Work and Pensions Secretary announced ‘decisive action’ on the benefits system, which she said was ‘failing the very people it is supposed to help and holding our country back’.
That ‘decisive action’ was a reform package that Kendall said was expected to save over £5 billion in 2029/30. It included restricting the eligibility for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) so that only those who have the highest level of disability can claim the benefit. A claimant will need to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity to qualify for the daily living element of PIP, with a review of the PIP assessment process led by Social Security Minister Stephen Timms.
Kendall sweetened Labour backbenchers for these big changes by first telling the Commons that Labour was dropping a number of reforms that had been proposed by the Conservatives.
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