Ex-Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry defects to Reform
The former MP for Rossendale and Darwen, who served as Northern Powerhouse minister under Boris Johnson, said he had defected to Nigel Farage's party because the Tories had "lost their way".
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Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
UK sickness benefits to outstrip wages by £2,500, warns think tank
Living on sickness benefits will soon pay £2,500 a year more than a minimum wage job, it has was revealed on Wednesday night. Earnings of the unemployed who claim ill health payments will overtake those of workers on the national living wage next year, warns a think tank. The shocking finding comes after Keir Starmer capitulated to a backbench rebellion and failed to secure reforms to the benefits system that would have saved £5billion. On Thursday, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will warn Britain faces becoming a 'welfare state with an economy attached' in the face of a rapidly expanding benefits bill. In a speech on welfare reform she will warn that the country is sitting on a 'ticking time bomb' of spiralling state dependency. Analysis by the Centre for Social Justice found that a Universal Credit claimant who is not working and takes the average housing benefit and Personal Independence Payment for ill health will receive £25,000 in 2026-27. However, a full-time worker on the national living wage of £12.21 an hour will earn around £22,500 after paying income tax and National Insurance. Writing in the Mail, former work and pensions secretary Sir Iain Duncan Smith, founder of the CSJ, said: 'This isn't a swipe at claimants – many of whom are trying to do right by themselves and their families. 'But it must be a wake-up call for policymakers. 'A system designed to protect those in genuine need now appears to disincentivise work, trap people in long-term dependency, and leave them without meaningful support to recover.' The report lays bare the generosity of the system. Labour's climbdown leaves a £5billion gap in the public finances which it is feared Chancellor Rachel Reeves will have to plug with a wealth tax. On Wednesday, the rebellion continued with 47 Labour MPs voting against the Third Reading of the Government's watered-down welfare reform bill as it passed the Commons. Leading rebel Rachael Maskell branded the bill an 'omnishambles' while others said it was morally wrong for the party to cut benefits for sick and disabled people. Sir Iain said: 'Before lockdown, we had the lowest numbers of workless households since records began. 'However, figures from the Centre for Social Justice show how damaging Covid was and that, since then, the scale of the disincentive to work has grown dramatically. 'That's why the Bill's failure to look at real reform of the system is more costly than just the billions lost to the Chancellor, the real loss is that of the wasted lives trapped in a system of dependence rather than one of independence and achievement.' In its report, the CSJ - having analysed figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Office for National Statistics and HMRC – cited other examples of generous benefits payments which outstrip salaries for lower-paid jobs. It found that a jobless single parent claiming for anxiety and for a child with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) will get nearly £37,000 a year – £14,000 more than a worker on the national minimum wage takes home. Last week the Office for Budget Responsibility said the bill for sickness benefits was due to hit £100billion by 2030. PIP payments to assist those with disabilities and health conditions have more than doubled since the pandemic, from 13,000 to 34,000 a month. The increase has been driven by a rise in the numbers claiming for anxiety and depression as their main condition. The CSJ has previously said Britain would save up to £9billion a year targeting mental health benefits to fund NHS therapy and employment support. It said PIP and the health element of Universal Credit should be withdrawn from those with milder anxiety, depression or ADHD. Around two in three of those claiming Universal Credit Health also receive PIP, with roughly the same proportion in receipt of housing support within UC. In her speech at the CSJ on Thursday, Mrs Badenoch will argue that projections of one in four pounds of income tax soon being spent on sickness and disability benefits is a crisis that could 'collapse the economy'. Ms Badenoch is expected to say: 'It is not fair to spend £1billion a month on benefits for foreign nationals and on handing out taxpayer-funded cars for conditions like constipation. 'We should be backing the makers – rewarding the people getting up every morning, working hard to build our country. Our welfare system should look after the most vulnerable in society – not those cheating the system.' Joe Shalam, policy director at the CSJ, said: 'Liz Kendall [the current Work and Pensions Secretary] deserves credit for tackling the perverse incentives that have crept into the welfare system since Covid. 'By tightening eligibility for mental health benefits and investing in therapy and employment support, ministers can save public money and transform lives.' A Government spokesman said: 'We are changing the system so it genuinely supports those who can work into employment and ensuring the safety net will always be there for the most vulnerable – and puts the spiralling welfare bill on a more sustainable footing. 'Through our £2.2 billion employment support funding over the next four years, we are also building on the success of programmes like Connect to Work, which help disabled people and those with health conditions into work.'
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Lord Hermer ‘gives himself veto' over government policy
Civil servants have been ordered to 'snitch' on ministers if they suspect them of potentially breaching international law, leading the Tories to accuse the attorney-general of handing himself an 'effective veto' over government policy. Lord Hermer is reported to have comprehensively amended guidance to Whitehall lawyers and civil servants that had been drafted by one of his Conservative predecessors, Suella Braverman. The guidance, which governs how government lawyers relate to ministers, has been tweaked to include a 'snitch clause', according to The Daily Telegraph. Hermer is said to have told civil servants to inform him if ministers might be about to break the law. It was also claimed that the attorney-general inserted 23 references to international law into the guidance and watered down Braverman's instructions that were designed to prevent government lawyers from becoming a 'block' to ministerial policy. Sir Michael Ellis, another former Conservative attorney-general, said that the changes to the document amounted to 'empire building' by Hermer, who had 'effectively given himself a veto over all government business'. Last year Hermer, who is the government's top lawyer and a friend of the prime minister, said in a speech that ministers must protect the rule of law from an 'age of populism'. Despite attending cabinet, Hermer is technically an independent legal adviser to the government. A spokesman for Hermer told The Daily Telegraph that 'government lawyers advise ministers, but it is always ministers that make decisions on policy, as has been the case under successive governments'.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Starmer and Macron race to strike 'one in, one out' Channel migrant deal TODAY… but it would only cover 50 arrivals a week as critics dismiss 'merry go round'
Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are racing to finalise a 'one in, one out' Channel migrant deal at a summit today. The PM is hoping for 'concrete progress' on the crisis as the French president wraps up his three-day State Visit to the UK. The outlines of a pact have been emerging, with Britain returning some small boat arrivals to France, while accepting equal numbers of asylum seekers. Supporters say the idea will deter people from making the perilous crossing, although critics have branded it a 'migrant merry go round'. However, according to details leaked to French media just 50 Channel migrants per week are expected to be returned. That would be just one in 17 of the current level of arrivals, which stands at 44,000 for the year so far. The official readout of a meeting between Sir Keir Mr Macron at No10 yesterday suggested they are focused on the Channel crisis. Downing Street also tried to ease tensions after Mr Macron used a speech to Parliament to complain about 'pull factors' encouraging people to try to cross in the first place. 'The Prime Minister spoke of his Government's toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats,' a spokesman said. Touring broadcast studios this morning, Defence Secretary John Healey dismissed concerns of a blame game between the countries. He told Sky News: 'The discussions are only taking place because over the last year, we've been able to establish with the French a recognition that this is a shared challenge, that they are working together with us, and that's the reason that we've seen increased beach patrols, more drone patrols.' He added: 'As a Government, we're not interested in blame. 'We're interested in taking the action together that can help reduce the number of small boats coming across, the number of lives also being lost in the Channel… 'And we're interested in re-establishing the control of our borders that the previous government lost in the recent years.' Both Mr Macron and Sir Keir aim for 'concrete progress' on the matter at Thursday's summit, No 10 said, as well as in other areas like support for Ukraine. Following the French-UK summit, the two leaders will host a call with coalition of the willing partners, the proposed peacekeeping mission to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine in future. In a sign of close alignment on defence, Britain and France have announced they will buy new supplies of Storm Shadow missiles, which both have loaned to Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia. The two nations will also work closely to develop a successor to the long-range missile, the Ministry of Defence said.
