Andy Burnham does not seem interested in tackling Britain's enormous benefits bill, according to an opinion piece by Leo McKinstry. The bloated, destructive leviathan of the welfare state is hopelessly unsustainable, and without change, Britain is heading for bankruptcy. The new Prime Minister fails to recognise the scale of the challenge, recently declaring that instead of making “crude, punitive and unfair cuts” in benefits, he wants to address the “underlying problems” behind the surge in welfare claims, such as youth unemployment. However, the welfare system itself is one of the core underlying problems, having fed the culture of dependency, undermined enterprise, and provided perverse incentives to family breakdown and mental illness.
Reform UK's Bold Plan to Cut £50 Billion
There is little hope of change from the Labour government, nor is the recent record of the Tories impressive on this subject. But this week Reform UK had the guts to set out a bold plan to cut £50 billion from the social security budget. Drawn up by the party’s Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick, the detailed programme featured a host of audacious measures such as tighter controls on Personal Independent Payments for the disabled, and a requirement on long-term claimants to carry out voluntary work.
The most controversial element of the package was the proposed ban on benefit claims by foreign nationals. Inevitably, this provoked howls of outrage from the Left, which portrayed the move as another sign of Reform UK’s reckless cruelty. It is true that there would be major obstacles to the implementation of this policy, most notably that negotiations over the Brexit withdrawal agreement would have to be re-opened because of the rights of EU citizens long settled in Britain.
Impact of Indiscriminate Welfare on Migration
By acting as a key pull factor for migrants, indiscriminate welfare has not only put an intolerable strain on our infrastructure, but has also helped to transform our social fabric – without any mandate from voters. The Left likes to pretend that all new arrivals to Britain are motivated by hard work and are therefore net contributors to the economy. On a BBC radio phone-in last Tuesday, Seema Sayeda, a representative of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, argued that the “economy would collapse without migration” and that “this country was built by people from other places”, though in a brief afterthought she mentioned the role of the British people.
But her assertions about the impact of immigration are nonsense. Before the 1960s, Britain had been one of the most homogenous nations on earth, and was also one of the most successful. Yet since the floodgates were opened by Tony Blair, the economy has stagnated while migrant numbers and welfare bills have soared. Contrary to left-wing propaganda, just one-third of new arrivals actually come here to work. Some studies have put the annual cost of migrant dependency at £21 billion, while other research shows that more than £1 billion in Universal Credit is given to foreign nationals every month.
Reform UK's Turbulence and the Need for Debate
Reform UK is going through a period of turbulence at the top, as egos clash and disagreements rage. Only this week, high-profile Tory defector Tim Montgomerie was suspended for openly attacking the party’s Home Affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf, who himself is an abrasive, controversial figure. But it would be a pity if this turmoil ended the chance for a real debate on immigration and welfare. Reform UK is the only major party willing to face up to the state we’re in.
