Burnham Unveils Welfare Package as Labour MPs Rebel
The government has set out the first elements of Andy Burnham’s welfare shake-up, pairing tougher conditions with new incentives to get young people into work. Parents on benefits will be offered up to £4,500 when their child starts an apprenticeship, while young people will be “expected” to engage with training or work. The plans, part of a drive to cut a rising bill, prompted an immediate rebellion among Labour MPs.
The package, fronted by the minister Pat McFadden, sits alongside a wider intention to make some benefits conditional and to tighten sickness, incapacity and disability payments — the most contentious elements, still to be detailed. Dozens of Labour MPs warned the Prime Minister against “punitive” cuts, reviving the sort of revolt that damaged his predecessor. Ministers argue that work is the best route out of poverty and that the bill is unsustainable; critics fear hardship for the vulnerable. With Parliament in recess, the argument will build over the summer before any legislation. Watch the detail on disability benefits and the scale of the rebellion.