‘Don’t punish the vulnerable’: Labour MPs uneasy over planned welfare cuts
Dozens of backbench Labour MPs are unhappy with plans to cut billions from the rising welfare bill, with ministers holding meetings to convince them that the changes to disability benefits are necessary.Labour MPs told the Guardian there were deep concerns within the parliamentary party that the changes would take money from the poorest, which was not what they had entered government to do.No 10 is preparing to make the case for welfare cuts before Rachel Reeves’s spring statement, with Keir Starmer’s spokesperson saying on Friday that there had been an “unsustainable rise in welfare spending”.“Our broken social security system is holding our people back, our economy back,” he said.“We’ve got 3 million people out of work for health reasons, one in eight young people [are] not currently in work, education or training, and that is a shocking situation to be in.
”He added: “Left as it is, the system we’ve inherited would continue to leave more and more people trapped in a life of unemployment and inactivity, and that’s not just bad for the economy, it’s bad for those people too, and it’s why this government is going to set up plans to overhaul the health and disability benefits system in the coming weeks.”No 10 said the prime minister was in agreement with Reeves, who told Sky the welfare system was “letting down taxpayers” because it cost too much.“We don’t need an Office for Budget Responsibility forecast to tell us that we’ve got to reform our welfare system,” the chancellor said.The government is trying to separate the arguments about changes to the welfare system from Reeves’s need to find savings and balance the books, with proposals expected before the spring statement.Given the government’s large majority, there is little chance of it failing to push through its planned changes to the disability benefit system, but some Labour MPs said they would nevertheless struggle to vote for any measures that take money away from the poorest in society.
Labour MPs said they had met ministers in small groups about the proposals for welfare changes and some have also written to the Department for Work and Pensions expressing concerns.One senior Labour MP said there had not been enough effort to work on the reasons for higher disability benefit payments, from poor mental health provision and long waiting lists to declining health and life expectancy in many parts of the country.“We are a rich country but we have lots of poorer people.Do not target stuff at the poorest and most vulnerable.There are others ways of doing it,” the MP said.
“There are lots of backbenchers concerned about this … it’s unhelpful in terms of how this has been trailed in the media and I feel that it’s too politically slanted as well.You can’t outflank the right.”Another Labour MP, Rachael Maskell, a former shadow cabinet minister, told the Guardian many colleagues were “feeling really nervous and concerned” and that mental health services and schools need to be better equipped to help young people before changing the social security system.“We need to get into why people are so challenged at the moment and to force people into work is not going to solve that problem,” she said.“We know people who depend on social security, with people struggling in our constituencies.
It should be a Labour government alleviating poverty, not adding to it … the Labour government needing to hold its values about addressing poverty.Measures like raising the living wage are really helpful but it is [Gordon] Brown economics we need at this time, which are complicated, technical and targeted.That’s not what we are seeing with these broad-brush approaches.”Maskell said many previous governments had tried unsuccessfully to cut the social security bill, so the fresh effort may be “more rhetoric than reality”.But she added: “What I’ve written to the minister with concerns about is people moved into a work-related activity group and being told they can work when they in fact can’t … I am concerned that’s where we will see the shift.
”Another Labour MP said: “I think it is not sensible to punish the most vulnerable in society for a situation which is not their fault,We should be helping those with disabilities flourish and forcing employers to be more inclusive, not blaming disabled people for not being able to find employment,”
Lucky loser Van de Zandschulp stuns struggling Djokovic at Indian Wells
Novak Djokovic’s difficult start to the season continued on the North American hard courts as he crashed out of Indian Wells with an extremely poor performance in his opening match, losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the second round to the world No 85, Botic van de Zandschulp.Despite producing arguably the best performance of the year in his four-set victory over Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open, Djokovic has now lost three consecutive matches since that triumph. The thigh injury Djokovic suffered during his win over Alcaraz forced him to retire from his semi-final against Alexander Zverev and then he fell in the first round of the Qatar Open last month to Matteo Berrettini.As an increasingly dejected Andy Murray looked on from his player box, Djokovic’s lack of match practice was clear throughout a dire opening set, which included an extended period where he even struggled to win points. The Dutchman consolidated his early lead by winning 18 of 19 points in the middle of the set
Jeremiah Azu wins European Indoor gold for Britain in men’s 60m
It took 6.49sec of staggering power and fluency for Jeremiah Azu to win the 60m European Indoor gold for Britain. And about the same time again for him to have a packed crowd in Apeldoorn eating out of his hand.For no sooner had he been asked for his thoughts on his victory, the Rotterdam-born Azu began to speak in fluent Dutch: “I am here, I am in the building!” Having been foot perfect on the track, the 23-year-old proved to be word perfect off it too.Extra motivation, Azu admitted, had been provided after his wife, Terri, gave birth to their son, Azaire, last week – even though it had led to a few sleepless nights
‘We can’t wait’: Scotland’s Townsend relishing France test after win over Wales
After dominating yet another match without maximising the return on the scoreboard, Scotland now face the daunting prospect of a trip to Paris to take on high-flying France, the one team scoring even more freely than Scotland. They will probably thrive on it.Gregor Townsend acknowledged that Scotland face the toughest assignment of all on Saturday night. “France scored 70 points against a very good Italian team,” he said. “They got 40 points against Wales, 40 points against Ireland
Coe targets Musk and Zuckerberg talks over ‘pond life’ abuse of female athletes
Sebastian Coe will demand urgent talks with Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to stop “pond life” abusing female sports stars with impunity if he becomes International Olympic Committee president.Speaking after a week in which Emma Raducanu spoke about not being able “see the ball through tears” after being approached by a stalker, and Eilish McColgan faced a blizzard of hate after posting a video of her running on social media, Lord Coe pledged to create a taskforce to find better ways to protect female athletes.“It is vital that women feel that sport is a safe space,” he said. “You cannot have young athletes thinking the second you get public exposure that this comes at you like a waterfall of horror.”Asked what he made of comments posted on Facebook, Instagram and X attacking women, the World Athletics president, who is among the favourites for the IOC presidential election on 20 March, replied: “It’s pond life
Galthié’s gamble with lopsided bench pays off for France as Ireland unravel | Andy Bull
Team’s replacement forwards made the difference with the champions unable to cope with their power and speedFor this weekend at least, Dublin has a French quarter. By the time the final whistle went at the Aviva Stadium, the thousands of French fans inside, outside and all around the ground were cheering, screaming, roaring, singing, dancing, in celebration of one of the great victories.They had travelled in huge numbers and been rewarded with five tries and 42 points, a record score for them in this city, revenge in plenty for the 21-point thrashing by Ireland in Marseille last year. France are favourites for the championship now and the Irish are squaring up to the kind of existential hangover you get by being so completely beaten in a match that had so much riding on it.The game will take some unpicking
Fabien Galthié fears Antoine Dupont suffered ‘serious’ injury against Ireland
France may have claimed a famous 42-27 victory, but in the moments after the match Fabien Galthié was too furious about the injury suffered by Antoine Dupont to take great pleasure in his side’s win over Ireland.Dupont was forced off the pitch in the 30th minute after Tadhg Beirne collapsed on to his knee while attempting a clear-out. Galthié described the incident as “reprehensible”, and has highlighted the actions of Beirne and Calvin Nash, who received a 20-minute red card for a high tackle on Pierre-Louis Barassi, in his post-match report to the citing commissioner.“There is a suspicion of a quite serious knee injury to Antoine,” Galthié said. “He is suffering and we are suffering with him
How to turn leftovers into a savoury bread pudding – recipes | Waste not
Five bars that show off London’s status as ‘wine capital of the world’
Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for guava jam sandwich biscuits | The sweet spot
Satori, Birmingham B13: ‘Pomposity chimed loudly in the air’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Curd surge: TikTok recipes drive a national cottage cheese shortage
Grape news! Australia’s best-value fruit and veg for March