Minister defends planned benefit cuts amid growing Labour backlash

Diane Abbott said planned welfare cuts are ‘not a Labour thing to do’ as backlash grows in the party over the move

A minister has defended Labour’s planned welfare cuts after Diane Abbott warned reducing benefits is “not a Labour thing to do”.

Treasury minister Emma Reynolds vowed there will “always be a safety net for the most vulnerable” amid a growing backlash among MPs at Sir Keir Starmer’s plans.

She said Labour is “the party that created the welfare state back in 1945” and that it will “maintain that crucial safety net for the most vulnerable”.

Emma Reynolds vowed there will “always be a safety net” for the most vulnerable (PA)

Ms Reynolds told Times Radio: “We are determined to reform social security according to our values.

“We are a Labour government, we believe in the dignity of work, we believe in equality and social justice and there are far too many people… who are frankly who've just been left behind by the system, locked out of work and it's too binary.”

But her comments come amid growing anger in Labour’s ranks at the scale of Sir Keir’s planned changes.

Veteran left-winger Ms Abbott on Monday pointed to comments from ex-Labour chancellor Ed Balls, adding: “I agree with him that it is not a Labour thing to do.”

“There are very many Labour supporters out there who agree,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

She added: “Being on welfare is very depressing. It's very humiliating. It brings you down.

“But I have no sympathy with the idea that the way to get people out of welfare is to cut the money they have to live on. I have no sympathy with the idea that it's a lifestyle choice.”

Diane Abbott said the cuts are “not a Labour thing to do” (PA Archive)

Ms Abbott also called for Sir Keir to “be less Churchill”, referring to the prime minister’s cuts so far to international aid to fund defence spending and the removal of the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners.

Her intervention came after Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham urged “caution” on benefit changes.

Writing in The Times, Mr Burnham said he agreed that the welfare system needed “a radical overhaul”, but said the government should focus on helping people into work rather than simply cutting benefits.

He said: “I would share concerns about changing support and eligibility to benefits while leaving the top-down system broadly in place. It would trap too many people in poverty.

“And to be clear: there is no case in any scenario for cutting the support available to disabled people who are unable to work.”

Sir Keir has sought to ease disquiet in the party by promising disabled people a “right to try” employment guarantee as part of the welfare reforms expected this week.

The guarantee will prevent people receiving health-related benefits from having their entitlements automatically reassessed if they enter employment.

The move is said to be in response to surveys suggesting disabled people and those with long-term health conditions fear they will not get their benefits back if they try employment, but it does not work out.

But despite the concession, there are fears as many as 1 million people could see their benefits reduced, while charities have warned thousands of disabled people could be forced into poverty.