UK politics: Kendall says ‘you must work if you can work’ as she warns benefits bill set to soar by £26bn
Young people ‘have a responsibility’ to take up new opportunities Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary has said
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Your support makes all the difference.Liz Kendall has announced wide-ranging reforms designed to tackle economic inactivity in the UK and warned that “under this Labour government, if you can work, you must work”.
The work and pensions secretary told MPs that the Get Britain Working white paper will bring forward “the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation”.
Ms Kendall said the UK was experiencing “an economic, but above all, social crisis” and that the paid for in the life chances “benefits bill for sickness and disability that is set to rise by £26bn by the end of this Parliament”.
She said the Tories had failed “to create good jobs” or deliver on the NHS and reform welfare.
Tory counterpart Helen Whately defended the previous Conservative government and said they “drove down unemployment and economic inactivity year after year”.
Earlier today, employment minister Alison McGovern said that some benefits claimants are “stealing from the state”.
Ms McGovern was on the media round discussing the government’s plans and said nobody should be claiming sickness benefit if they are not unwell.
She told Sky: “Unfortunately, people have stolen from the state, and we’re bringing forward proposals to deal with that.”
Ed Davey challenges Keir Starmer to FIFA match in bizarre TikTok video
Sir Ed Davey challenged Sir Keir Starmer to a “1v1” FIFA match in a bizarre TikTok dancing video filmed outside the Houses of Parliament.
The Liberal Democrats leader posted a series of videos asking the prime minister to face him.
The first clip was captioned that it would be for charity.
In a third video, Sir Ed danced next to images of Mr Bean and Shrek.
It received mixed reactions on social media, with one viewer commenting: “Currently in one of the darkest economic and social periods of British history and this is what politicians are doing.”
The Independent has reached out to the Liberal Democrats for comment.
Watch: Ed Davey challenges Keir Starmer to FIFA match in bizarre TikTok video
Sir Ed Davey challenged Sir Keir Starmer to a “1v1” FIFA match in a bizarre TikTok dancing video filmed outside the Houses of Parliament. The Liberal Democrats leader posted a series of videos asking the prime minister to face him. The first clip was captioned that it would be for charity. In a third video, Sir Ed danced next to images of Mr Bean and Shrek. It received mixed reactions on social media, with one viewer commenting: “Currently in one of the darkest economic and social periods of British history and this is what politicians are doing.” The Independent has reached out to the Liberal Democrats for comment.
Labour’s plans for Jobcentres, explained
As part of their new plan, Labour says the Jobcentre system will be “transformed” into the new national jobs and careers service, pledging £55 million of investment.
This means that 600 Jobcentre Plus locations will be merged with the existing national careers service to create a more centralised public service.
It will be radically different to how Jobcentres work at the moment, the paper promises. Instead of focusing on just monitoring and managing benefit claims, there will be a renewed focus on skills and careers.
This will be supported by a trial of the latest technologies to support DWP workers. Labour says AI will free up work coach time to “provide up-to date information” on jobs, skills and other support.
This will give them the flexibility to offer a more personalised service to jobseekers, bringing an end to “tick box culture.”
The trial will also look at how the DWP can bring services like CV advice and job adverts online, and make them easier to access.
Pictured: Ministers arriving for Cabinet
Sir Keir Starmer chaired Cabinet at Downing Street this morning, with a number of familiar faces turning up to No 10, including deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall.
Who are the 2 million people demanding a general election? Crunching the numbers behind the viral petition
Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out calling a general election after a petition calling for another vote was signed by more than two million people.
“I would like there to be another general election,” the petition reads.
“I believe the current Labour government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead-up to the last election.”
Asked about the petition on ITV’s This Morning programme on Monday, Sir Keir dismissed calls for an election by saying that it is “not how our system works”.
The petition comes amid growing backlash over Labour’s budget, which has sparked controversy for hikes to national insurance and extension of inheritance tax to include farms, among other unpopular proposals which aim to fill the spending black hole.
Among the famous faces to have shared the petition are billionaire Trump-ally Elon Musk, who has repeatedly criticised Sir Keir since he came to power, and British actor Michael Caine.
Who are the 2 million demanding a general election? Crunching viral petition numbers
Starmer insists he’s ‘not surprised’ by election petition with two million signatures as he rules out another vote
Blaming people for mental health issues is not ‘the right approach’, says minister
Employment minister Alison McGovern has said that it is a “good thing” that people are “able to be more open about mental health” at work and that blaming people for their mental health conditions is not “the right approach”.
She told Times Radio: “I think that it’s a good thing that people are able to be more open about mental health conditions in work, and that we understand more about how people’s mental ill health can affect them in work.
“I don’t think having a go at people and blaming them is the right approach.”
She said that she thinks there should be “a culture where we understand people’s mental health challenges and think about the things that we can do to improve our mental health” at work such as good management and flexibility when somebody experiences a personal life event.
“Those are the things that can help tackle mental ill health, and then we will be able to improve our productivity, which will be good for individuals and good for the economy,” she said.
Keir Starmer criticised for lack of action over Elon Musk’s ‘outlandish’ comments
Sir Keir Starmer has been criticised for failing to hit back at Elon Musk’s persistent attacks on the UK government.
The owner of X, previously Twitter, has described Sir Keir’s administration of going “full Stalin” over inheritance tax proposals for farmers.
He was also outspoken during the summer riots and shared the right-wing “two-tier” policing conspiracy theory.
Carla Denyer MP, co-leader of the Green Party, told HuffPost UK it was a “no brainer” and in the UK’s interests for the prime minister to respond to Mr Musk.
She said: “Elon Musk’s ramblings are getting more outlandish and alarming by the day.
“And he will no doubt be demanding his reward for helping Trump back into the White House.
“The lack of criticism from the UK government over both Trump’s and Musk’s recent comments suggest Starmer may be hedging his bets on which way to turn - across the pond to the White House, or over the channel to Brussels.
“This should be a no-brainer.
“Our economic interests, our core values and ethics, not to mention our joint commitment to tackle the climate and nature crises, mean we must distance ourself from the Trump-Musk axis and strengthen our relationship with our European partners.”
Labour is dodging tough decisions on welfare, say Tories
The Conservatives have criticised the government’s plan to cut the welfare bill and said they are dodging difficult decisions on sickness benefits.
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “This latest announcement shows that Labour are not prepared to take the tough but necessary choices to bring down the benefits bill.
There is no attempt to match the £12bn in welfare savings we promised in our manifesto. They have even dodged the difficult decisions on sickness benefits, which are needed to make the welfare system sustainable in the long term.
To get people off benefits you also need jobs for them to go to. But Labour’s disastrous anti-growth budget is already making businesses think twice about taking people on.”
Some benefit claimants have ‘stolen from the state’, employment minister says
Employment minister Alison McGovern has been on the media round this morning talking about the government’s plans to slash the welfare bill and get Britain back to work.
Sky’s Kay Burley pressed the minister on if people who cheat the benefits system are criminals. Ms McGovern responded that there was some “dreadful criminal activity” while the Tories were in power, including theft by groups of organised criminals.
Asked about the public more generally, she said that nobody should be signing themselves off sick from work if they are not unwell.
She told the broadcaster: “Unfortunately, people have stolen from the state, and we’re bringing forward proposals to deal with that.”
Employment minister squirms when confronted with Starmer’s comments on benefits fraudsters
An employment minister squirmed live on television as she was confronted with Sir Keir Starmer‘s comments on benefits fraudsters.
In an article for the Mail on Sunday, the prime minister wrote that the public would see the government “get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society” and pledged to “crack down hard on anyone who tries to game the system, to tackle fraud so we can take cash straight from the banks of fraudsters.”
When questioned if she considers people who sign themselves off work to be criminals, Alison McGovern asked if the question was quoted from Sir Keir and did not say whether she considers this to be criminal activity.
Employment minister squirms when confronted with Starmer’s comments on benefits fraud
An employment minister squirmed live on television as she was confronted with Sir Keir Starmer's comments on benefits fraudsters. In an article for the Mail on Sunday, the prime minister wrote that the public would see the government “get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society" and pledged to "crack down hard on anyone who tries to game the system, to tackle fraud so we can take cash straight from the banks of fraudsters." When questioned if she considers people who sign themselves off work to be criminals, Alison McGovern asked if the question was quoted from Sir Keir and did not say whether she considers this to be criminal activity.
Starmer could tax Levi’s jeans and Jack Daniel’s whiskey in retaliation against Trump tariffs
Sir Keir Starmer could hike taxes on American staples including Harley Davidsons, Jack Daniel’s whiskey and Levi’s jeans if Donald Trump targets the UK with tariffs.
The prime minister has been urged to “Trump-proof” Britain after the president-elect overnight threatened to unilaterally impose massive levies on imports to the US on his first day in office.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 per cent Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Archie Mitchell reports
Starmer could tax Levi’s jeans and Jack Daniel’s whiskey in response to Trump tariffs
PM urged to ‘Trump-proof’ Britain if president-elect imposes levies on UK imports to the US
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