A Labour MP has broken ranks over the government’s £5bn benefit cuts, saying they will have a “devastating” impact on coastal communities like his.
Chris Webb, the newly elected MP for Blackpool South, said the measures announced by the work and pensions secretary on Tuesday were “not what any of us stood on in the manifesto”.
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He told Sky News the government had “forgotten” coastal communities like Blackpool, which has the lowest male life expectancy in Britain and where nearly half of children live in poverty.
Mr Webb, who is the first of Labour’s new 2024 MPs to publicly criticise the reforms, said he was concerned they had been “rushed” to coincide with the timing of next week’s spring statement – echoing criticism from Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride.
And he warned Liz Kendall’s welfare changes – in particular the tightening of the eligibility criteria for one of the main types of benefit, personal independence payments (PIP) – could push more children below the breadline.
“This is a devastating blow for people already using food banks, already waiting for mental health support,” he said.
“And in places like these coastal towns that have been forgotten these past 14 years, there just isn’t the jobs to get these people back into work.”
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Claimants in limbo until spring statement
Addressing MPs in the Commons yesterday, Ms Kendall said the government would not freeze PIP, as reports had previously suggested, but would tighten the eligibility criteria.
It’s unclear how many people will be impacted, with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s full costings report not due until the spring statement on 26 March.
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Ministers have said as well as providing much-needed savings, there is a moral case for cuts, as one in eight young people are not in education, training, or employment.
But Mr Webb said without the necessary mental health support, it would be difficult for young people to find the employment they are being encouraged to take up – with waiting lists reaching between 18 months and two years.
He also argued jobs had been prioritised in the South East and Manchester, with “nothing for coastal communities”.
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‘This will make people worse off’
While Mr Webb said he understood the need to make savings, he believed this could be done via other means.
He suggested a wealth tax, and following Germany in approving a change to constitutional borrowing rules to allow much more defence spending.
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“If you’re saying a young person needs to get to work, I don’t see a plan where that mental support will increase in time,” he said.
“These changes aren’t going to be enacted until 2028/29, so there may be a plan alongside this to do it – but at the minute, I’m not convinced by that, and this will make people in my constituency worse off.
“If I’m to support these measures, I need to see a clear strategy so that I can tell my constituents, my friends, my neighbours, and family – there is something coming.”
