Number of jobless 'indefensible', says PM amid criticism over cuts

Britain's benefits system is the "worst of all worlds", with the numbers out of work or training "indefensible and unfair", the prime minister has said as he prepares for deep cuts to disability payments.

- Jessica Elgot Patrick Butler

Addressing a private meeting of Labour MPs last night, Keir Starmer said he would take tough decisions to cut the bill for working-age health and disability benefits, which is expected to hit £70bn by 2030.

The government has already vowed to cut £3bn over the next three years and is expected to announce billions more in savings from personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability benefit.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is preparing to publish a green paper on sickness and disability benefit reform in the next few days before the chancellor's spring statement at the end of the month.

The prime minister's intervention comes amid deep disquiet in the parliamentary party about the scale of the changes likely to be faced by some of the most vulnerable people.

Addressing a meeting of the parliamentary Labour party in Westminster, Starmer said the current system was "discouraging people from working".

The numbers of young people out of work meant "a wasted generation," he said, with one in eight young people not in education, employment or training. "The people who really need that safety net [are] still not always getting the dignity they deserve," he said. "That's unsustainable, it's indefensible and it is unfair, people feel that in their bones," he added. "It runs contrary to those deep British values that if you can work, you should. And if you want to work, the government should support you, not stop you."

Starmer said the government would promise that it would "make work pay" for those who could work and that a safety net would be there if people needed help.