We're left footing bill for cowardice dressed up as care

LIZ KENDALL'S welfare reform bill managed to scrape through Parliament this week, despite fierce opposition from back-benchers, many of whom seem to believe that bankrupting the country is the surest way to keep their seats at the next election. Never mind the looming threat of Reform, or the fact that public confidence in Labour is through the floor.

- Esther Krakue

As any Man Utd fan will tell you: it's the hope that kills.

Starmer's Government has turned humiliating U-turns into an art form. What started out as a “bold reset” ended up as a damp squib, with most of the bill's original measures gutted, particularly those affecting current disability benefit claimants.

Instead of tightening the system, the amendments raised Universal Credit disability allowances by another £300million. Reassessments were scaled back, constraints on Personal Independence Payments watered down, and the proposed requirement for claimants to score at least four points in one assessment area won't even apply until November 2026 — and only for new claims.

In short: no existing claimant will lose a penny. The only substantive reform that passed was a cut to UC sickness benefits for new claimants, from £97 a week to £50, starting in 2026/27. It's no wonder many MPs had no clue what they were actually voting for. The bill, once stripped bare, is hardly worth the paper it's printed on.