Incredible 1.5M added to workless ranks below Starmer’s watch | UK | News | EUROtoday

The variety of individuals claiming Britain’s foremost profit with out having to work has soared by 1.5 million since Labour took workplace, with new figures revealing that almost 4.2 million individuals on Universal Credit now have “no work requirements” following a surge in psychological well being claims, reviews The Telegraph.

The authorities is going through growing stress over ballooning welfare spending amid a backlash in opposition to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s tax-raising “Benefits Street” Budget.

Critics have slammed the figures in line with the report, claiming they present that Downing Street has misplaced management after being pressured to desert deliberate cuts to illness handouts final 12 months. However, officers insist that a good portion of the rise is because of claimants transferring from different illness funds onto Universal Credit.

According to official knowledge, in December, there have been 4.2 million individuals on Universal Credit with no requirement to work, up from the two.7 million inherited by Labour in July 2024. These people make up half of the 8.4 million who’re on the profit general, marking the biggest improve in claimants because the begin of the Covid pandemic.

Conservatives and Reform UK suggest welfare reform plans

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately stated, “This is a sure sign of Labour’s failure to get a grip on benefits. Labour came into Government with no plans to reform welfare, so it’s no surprise they’ve made no progress.”

Whately outlined the Conservatives’ plan to repair welfare, which incorporates stopping illness advantages for low-level psychological well being issues, reinstating face-to-face assessments, and ending advantages funds to non-British residents. She additionally pledged to assist companies in creating jobs by chopping enterprise taxes and purple tape.

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson echoed Whately’s sentiments, stating, “This is further evidence that Labour favours the shirkers in this country, not the workers. The welfare system is abused by people who don’t need it and people who aren’t even citizens of this country. Only Reform has a clear plan to overhaul our benefits system, cut the ballooning £342bn welfare bill and get people back into work.”

Officials started transferring claimants of Employment Support Allowance (ESA), a legacy illness profit, onto Universal Credit in July 2024. Since then, roughly 750,000 individuals have been transferred, partially explaining the numerous rise in Universal Credit claims. Most ESA claimants have extreme situations that render them unable to work.

Pressure mounts on Labour to curb welfare spending

The figures are seemingly so as to add to the stress on Labour to curb spiralling spending on working age advantages, which is projected to succeed in £177 billion per 12 months by the early 2030s. Documents launched alongside the autumn price range elevated the forecast by £36.4 billion over the following 5 years in comparison with projections from final spring.

This comes after Labour deserted plans to chop £5.5 billion from the Personal Independence Payments (PIP) invoice following a insurrection from backbench MPs.

Downing Street has tasked Alan Milburn, a former Labour well being secretary, with main a assessment into addressing worklessness amongst younger individuals.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman stated, “This increase comes as people are moving off legacy benefits – a transition we inherited from the previous government, alongside a system with the wrong incentives that writes people off. This government is determined to fix this. That’s why we’re removing the financial incentives in Universal Credit that encourage inactivity, and as part of our wider plans to Get Britain Working, we have redeployed 1,000 work coaches to help thousands of sick and disabled people who were previously left without contact for years.”