Liz Kendall struggles to sell ‘immoral and devastating’ disability benefits cut
Disability charities call foul as welfare secretary buries austerity-like news under earnest talk of reform
The disability benefit reforms statement issued by the welfare secretary, Liz Kendall alongside 5bn of cuts felt like Labour's latest attempt to answer the question that seems to come up every time it tackles a thorny social policy issue and deliver bad news. Namely: how is this different from life under the Tories?
Kendall tried to accentuate the positive. Labour would fix the mess of a social security system it had inherited from the Conservatives, getting rid of perverse benefit incentives and toxic fit-for-work tests, and bring in more safeguards for vulnerable claimants. There would be increases to the basic rate of universal credit.
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