Labour and Conservative agree the welfare bill is too high and growing too fast. They both agree it needs to be brought down by helping hundreds of thousands of people of working age into jobs. They are both particularly worried about 1 million young people not in education, employment or training.
Labour flirted with the idea of cutting the real value of Personal Independence payments.That was a bad idea. People need to be assessed and then paid extra money to get the support they need to assist in managing their disability.
Second thoughts led them to decide to make it more difficult to qualify for the payment.
Labour also think they need to tighten criteria for other benefits, and remove entitlements for under 22 s. Presumably they will look into the surge in mental health cases. Some argue that whilst people with recognised medical conditions that need medication or other treatment of course need benefits, too many are unhappy or out of sorts but are not mentally ill. Getting a job and entering into the activity and social contact that work brings could be helpful to the person. There remains the issue of conditionality. How many job offers can someone turn down whilst still keeping full benefits?
It is difficult to achieve the change of behaviours government wants in such a large and expensive system. They are talking about a possible saving if £5 bn in five years time. They have promised an extra £1 bn spend on helping people into work. This needs legislation. Difficult see any savings this year or next.
They should cut back severely on work visas and legal migration and reverse the anti business budget if they really want to get many more off benefits and into jobs.
March 19, 2025
How about looking into another reason why the welfare bill is exploding. Recent statistics show 78% of gimmigrants are on welfare and social housing. We are Importing almost a million bodies annually and many are fleecing the taxpayer. Labours and indeed the tory approach is to penalise the indigenous population.
Another van attack in London, no details released so definitely a peaceful protest. People are getting very angry.
March 19, 2025
Indeed Ian. Cost of benefits paid to non-UK nationals is billions. I predict government won’t attempt to cut this cost and yesterday’s proposals will not end up delivering any savings either.
MPs need to change the way they think on benefits. Stop looking at the amounts spent. Look at the number of people collecting money off the State. In the 1950s when the social security system commenced very few received payments. The proportion of the population getting payments has risen continually since then. Are people really sicker now than in the 50’s? Of course not – life expectancy has risen. If you offer people free money, many will take it. Same is true of food banks which didn’t exist 20(?) years ago.
March 19, 2025
Just checked the food bank details. They started in 2020 in affluent Salisbury. In 2024 an estimated 3m people had food parcels.
March 19, 2025
@PeteB – “MPs need to change the way they think” they need to just start thinking, where does the money come from? They need to remember their job and what they get paid for, that is to look after the interest of their electorate and the Country.
Paying money taken from hard-working UK Citizens to what are non-contributing foreigners is not what MP’s are paid for. They (MP’s) keep forgetting every criminal entry into the UK is someone abusing the UK’s hospitality and stealing a place that could have been offered to a genuine asylum seeker that is fearing for their life. The EU is still classed as a safe-haven by the UN, there is no obligation or even humanitarian need for the UK to take those they do not want.
March 19, 2025
A wise person once said ‘We will have the level of unemployment that we’re prepared to pay for’. This principle applies equally to benefits, of all kinds.
We must either tax more or spend less; the debt markets are not going to keep buying ever larger amounts of our national loan notes.
March 19, 2025
Nor are all the higher tax payers going to stay around or to work, to be endlessly fleeced by the government and the scroungers & feckless.
March 19, 2025
+1
March 19, 2025
+ 1
They have also imported hundreds of thousands from Africa, the Middle East and Asia on time-limited “skilled visas” and then those oh-so-skilled immigrants are claiming asylum so they can stay permanently. If they came here with a visa and to work, they clearly are NOT refugees so should be immediately deported.
March 19, 2025
Good morning.
How about restricting ALL benefits, housing, unemployment, healthcare etc to ONLY UK Citizens ? £5bn a year can be saved by just returning illegals back to France via the Channel Tunnel. If not, as I have said many times before, send them to a remote Scottish Island.
As for UK Citizens on welfare ? Make it time limited. 6 months and no more. There is work out there.
March 19, 2025
They will make all immigrants British Citizens as they cross the border.
We need to scrap ‘British citizenship’ altogether and introduce ‘English’ and ‘Scot’s’ citizenships and ONLY those qualify for residence. Genetic qualification required. If there is a 50/50 split the individual can choose which to hold.
(The Welsh and Irish qualify for English citizenship).
All the rest must go, selectively we can issue ‘temporary residence’ which Carrie’s NO VOTING RIGHTs and no route to citizenship – even if they breed here.
March 19, 2025
A ‘remote’ Scottish island is a non-starter. The inhabited Scottish islands do not want a load of unvetted immigrants dumped on their peaceful crime free communities and the uninhabited ones are uninhabitable because of size. Who would volunteer to go as well to provide the additional healthcare and policing etc. This is an English problem not a Scottish problem so it will have to be solved without aggravating Scottish/English relations.
March 19, 2025
Quite right. Fence off a bit of moorland and erect Nissen huts to house them, feeding them good porridge, but with nothing to do except notify the governor where they can be returned to. Then provide them with transport back to their original starting point – our pleasure.
Even human rights activists don’t have sufficient sympathy to take the successful asylum claimants into their own homes, so what chance do they have of a place in this country?
March 19, 2025
This is a UK problem as Scotland is part of the UK.
March 19, 2025
Cameron could have said you have to live in the UK for sixteen years before you become eligible for benefits; that would have sorted out the massive outflow of working tax credits and child tax credits (now called Universal credit) draining this country’s resources whilst not being re-spent in the UK economy. That would treat all people the same, the EU requirement, it would also stop people from coming here for lowest-value part-time 16 hour jobs with their families and then costing more than they make in benefit top ups.
March 19, 2025
Costing far more they they get in benefits and services like schools, housing, police, roads, defence, social services, university loans…
March 19, 2025
Paid work should be made more attractive than state benefits as low earners are taxed too much.
This could be achieved by an increase in the tax personal allowance and a reduction in employee National Insurance for low earners.
also
Employer National Insurance is a tax on jobs. The % rate is too high, and the £ starting point is too low.
March 19, 2025
@oldwulf – but if national insurance was what its title infers the situation would diminish. If you contribute(including employers) you get some thing out. If you have no part of it you for the most part are on your own. Foreign individuals should receive no more than would a UK Citizen in their home Country – get in trouble in foreign lands the UK embassies gets you help, but you pay when you return.
March 19, 2025
Labour and Conservative agree the welfare bill is too high and growing too fast. They both agree it needs to be brought down by helping hundreds of thousands of people of working age into jobs.
Here’s a novel idea why not stop illegal and legal immigration for a couple of years at the same time as giving the workshy unemployed the choice of going into a Apprenticeship/ Factory work/ or 2 years conscription into the military it’s not rocket science
March 19, 2025
As predicted, Trump has failed in his attempt to get an unconditional 30 day ceasefire in Ukraine. The war criminal Putin did not accept the US-Ukrainian proposal for a temporary ceasefire along the frontline and reiterated his demands for a resolution to the war that amount to Ukrainian capitulation.
Putin demanded that Ukraine stop recruiting and training forces during a potential temporary ceasefire. Putin also called for a halt to all foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. He did not discuss Russia’s military support including troops from North Korea, China or Iran
The proposed moratorium on bombing energy infrastructure was broken by the Russians last night, who launched a major air raid on energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Slovyansk city, leaving 100,000 people without electricity.
It is worth taking a step back to realise the full enormity of what is unfolding before us. The people of Ukraine, victims of unprovoked Russian military aggression, are having their country and its assets dismembered by the leaders of both Russia and the United States. Without the involvement of their democratically elected leader.
March 19, 2025
It’s also ‘worth taking a step back to realise’ the reality that Ukraine has lost the war, Sakara. Do get in touch again when you’ve done that. And please look at whether Ukraine ever agreed to a moratorium on bombing energy infrastructure. Putin agreed with that, once Ukraine agreed too. As of last night, they hadn’t.
March 19, 2025
No one can trust Putin. The man is a lying snake. There’s only one way to end his bestiality, but I’m not allowed to suggest it on here.
March 19, 2025
You seem to know a lot about the negotiations – are you involved in them ?
March 19, 2025
As you say Labour have closed the door on employment through employer NI hikes, and increasing workers rights. I would add that their messiahanic trip to Nett Zero has exported many more jobs than it has created.
In many cases being unemployed attracts more income than employment, so where is the incentive to work. In far too many cases it has become a cross generational way of life.
Some in society need financial help. They get a mean deal because there are too many gaming the system, such as it is.
A Labour government that hasn’t a clue as to how to create a thriving economy is equally clueless when it comes to dealing with this elephant in the room. It claims creative ownership, continues to overfeed it, is politically fearful of getting it under control, but it is yet another example of Labours unfitness to govern. The implosion gets closer.
March 19, 2025
I wonder how many of those on long-term sick benefits are only there because they are waiting for the NHS to treat them for their condition?
I don’t think anyone would argue against those who can work, should work.
The dilemma I think the government has is how to convince people to work, in many cases, for nothing. It is one thing to be skint on benefits but another thing to work forty hours a week in a dull job, and still be skint at the end of the month.
It is true to say that not everyone can train to better themselves, but education courses have become extremely expensive of late.
I wonder if there is still a career service for school leavers?
I do hope that these new rules and regulations around disability benefits, will not result in a sharp rise in self harm and suicide amongst disabled people.
I noticed that government have started to call our state pension a benefit recently. A benefit is discretionary and not a right. I wonder how long it will be before the state try to means test or further restrict our pension entitlement?
March 19, 2025
Knowing the ages of people on the NHS waiting lists would be interesting.
What % are under 18.
What % 18-25?
What % are over 65 years old?
March 19, 2025
Cliff
When I let School in 1964 not a single pupil in my year failed to get a job of some sort.
Reason: No Benefits, No sense of entitlement, No over inflated Idea of your worth, or expectations.
If you wanted a better job or promotion, then you worked hard to get it.
If you wanted more qualifications, you went to night school for higher education, in your own time.
If you wanted more money you worked longer (overtime) harder, smarter, or took on a second job.
March 19, 2025
Exactly by the times I went to university at 18 I had had a paper round, worked as a kitchen porter, a waiter, at a bakery at christmas and easter, as a Maths and Physics Tutor, fixing cars for people, fixing peoples light and electrics, delivering groceries, book keeping, helping my dad install central heating, replacing guttering and tiles … The laws now alas make it much harder to legally employ children. So often people do not bother. This is a great shame.
March 20, 2025
I agree Alan, it was the same in 1981 although most of us from my neck of the woods went into trade apprentices, military services and yts schemes £23 pw, (£86.91 pw today’s money), and that was for a forty-hour week, boy did we learn a lot in a short time though, no day release and thrown in the deep end.
Now, at age 18, an employer is expected to pay £10 per hour, 40 hours = £400 per week, £20,800 basic + around £2400 employers NI and £450 workplace pension, so £23,650 for a school leaver age 18 full-time employee. Rayner has said she wants this to be the 21-year-old rate £12.21 ph, so that could come in the next announcement.
Apprenticeship schemes seem very poor for small businesses; you only see the unemployable sick note, poor school attender school leavers with low-grade qualifications, I feel the better qualified school apprenticeseekers are saved for big companies and public sector.
Sick pay is we are told by Rayner going to be applicable for every day of sickness. Low earners are to have 80% of the SSP rate, and she wants the SSP rate to go up substantially to a % of the usual pay rate. The rate from 1 April will be £7.55 16-18 or 1st-year older apprentices who then qualify for the minimum wage after one year; the SME pays for the hours on day release so or a 40-hour week (32 hours on site) £302 pw (or £9.44 ph equivalent) = £15704 pa for 32 hours plus around £1600 Employers NI and £300 pension for a school leaver four days per week £17604.
March 20, 2025
a-tracy
Indeed started my fully indentured 5 year engineering apprenticeship with a motor manufacturing company in 1964 at £3.04 pence per week (for 40 hours a week) day release at tech college for one day and one night each week (no pay for attending the evenings as that was part of my weekly wage.
Did a paper round 1962-1963 before school and an evening round after school for a couple of years.
All papers delivered every day in the then 62-63 blizzard conditions, no excuses in those days.
Pay then was 75 pence per week.
How times, attitudes, and pay rates have changed.
March 21, 2025
Not everywhere, I too worked from 11 on market stalls selling either fruit and veg, kids clothes and uniforms or delivering leaflets during school holidays. I thought it was a luxury when I got an indoor shop job on Saturdays and did the 40-hour week on the YTS, but I was saving for driving lessons.
Discouraging children from working on Saturdays or taking little jobs after school to earn their own money was a mistake. My kids all worked from age 13, starting as cleaners and fully working through college and university. They’ve got great attitudes to work and life, they know how to handle pressure, don’t suffer from this crippling anxiety and mental health problems we’re told 25% of kids suffer from now. This welfare problem with neets has its roots in helicopter parenting and idle children and school preaching every day about life/work balance, four-day weeks, and time off whenever you want a break.
March 19, 2025
Your occupational pension is an entitlement. The state pension is a benefit. The contributions you might have thought you made towards it during your working life were all spent by the government of the day, who invariably still couldn’t make ends meet and had to borrow more.
Those who repeatedly voted for borrow and waste governments should not feel entitled to any state pension.
Reply No, the state pension is an entitlement. You did pay into the NI fund which is pay as you go.
March 19, 2025
Reply to reply
If you had the power to spend your pension pot before you got to retirement, you would have no funds for your entitlement. If you successfully voted for Labour or Conservative governments that’s in effect what you have done.
March 20, 2025
D E
It is a Pension because it is taxable, Benefits are not !
I now pay income tax on my State pension, because I paid higher, additional, and more contributions to get a slightly higher one for my retirement.
March 19, 2025
They could reintroduce freedom of speech, as one measure to deal with the growing problem.
We want a robust society where people aren’t brought up encouraged to nurture their selfishness and laziness in a moral vacuum, protected by the state from imagined harms. They need an upbringing exposed to home truths and real-world criticism. “On yer bike” as was famously said.
March 19, 2025
I think you mean “protected by the state from imaginary harms and done real harm by the state”.
March 19, 2025
Why are alcoholics and drug addicts receiving Personal Independence Payments? It can only mean that you and I are funding their addiction. The system is out of control.
March 19, 2025
40% of immigrants are on benefits and most of them should be deported. That would help.
March 19, 2025
+1
March 19, 2025
Here’s how to reduce the welfare bill. Zero benefits for all immigrants until they have paid tax/NI into the system for ten years.
March 19, 2025
Why limit it to immigrants? Why not all people?
March 19, 2025
+1
March 19, 2025
Liz Kendall’s appearance and facial expressions in the Beth Rigby Sky interview seemed to be a reaction of combat and intensity under strain instead of giving straight answers to simple non-hostile questions, which Beth delivered in a calm manner. Maybe Liz needs some support and guidance herself to perform her job properly, instead of depending on Government support at taxpayers’ expense that all MPs receive.
March 19, 2025
These proposals will achieve nothing. They are proposing to shave £5 billion of the welfare bill, whilst systematically increasing it by importing tens of thousands of criminal migrants every year for a life of “free everything” and forcing up unemployment by killing the private sector with taxes.
It was the equivalent of:
Two-Tier: Oh look, following my marvellous female Chancellor’s Stagflation Budget, Rome’s burning. We’d best get the fiddles out and try to distract the demos with some entertainment.
March 19, 2025
If the aim is to save money why has universal credit been increased by more than inflation?
Benefit recipients should be subject to the same fiscal drag that tax payers have experienced with the freezing of tax thresholds to generate large amount of tax.
Freeze all benefit increases until tax threshold start to rise again. True equality.
March 19, 2025
The BBC is far more balanced on this issue this time around compared to previous governments’ attempts to reduce the welfare bill where it effectively mounted a campaign against the idea.
We may some see some progress this time.
March 19, 2025
Getting people into jobs would be a great idea, only the government has embarked on an assault against employers with increased taxes and more employment legislation. Now employers are waiting for the next tranche of grief with yet more taxes as government economic policies fail – not a time to invest in new people.
Employers don’t want people who don’t want to work. Government will have to face it there is a cohort that don’t fit into the employment mould and cherish their health problems as a passport to benefits, which pay more than the sort of job they are likely to be qualified for.
Young people need to be inspired, but this won’t come from a government that started their administration with an abandon hope rhetoric.
March 19, 2025
Rather than discussing how to divide up the pie I will just repeat that if the pre-2008 average economic growth rate had been maintained the pie would now be 28% bigger:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2025/02/13/economic-inheritances-2/#comment-1498688
But in 2008 Parliament decided that saving the planet from overheating was more important than improving our national economy, and it has accepted a reduction in growth rate from 2.7% to 1.1% a year.
1.027 divided by 1.011 = 1.016, the reciprocal of which = 0.984, raised to the power of 16 = 0.778; and taking the reciprocal of that factor shows that if our previous economic growth rate had been maintained GDP would now be 28% higher, which shortfall will widen with every passing year that Parliament persists in believing that we have a kind of religious duty to sacrifice our economic welfare on the altar of net zero.
Whether or not Marie Antoinette said “Let them eat cake” Parliament could say “Let them eat carbon credits”:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2025/03/17/productivity-5/#comment-1504546
“One way out of this bind would be to have a parallel carbon credit budget alongside the sterling budget, with for example welfare payments made in sterling issued by the Bank of England being supplemented by payments of carbon credits issued by a UK Bank of the Environment.”
March 19, 2025
Eg in 2024 the official UK carbon price was £64.90 per tonne of carbon dioxide, so instead of a £200 winter fuel allowance an eligible household could be given a permit for the release of 3 tonnes. The permit could not be redeemed by the government – therefore no cost to the Treasury – but could be sold on the open market.
March 20, 2025
Typically anthracite is around 90% carbon and every 12 grams of carbon will produce 44 grams of carbon dioxide when burnt so that will be 3.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of fuel, multiply that by £64.90 which comes to £215 added to the cost of each tonne. The lowest bulk price I find is £400 a tonne so that would add 54% to the cost.
March 19, 2025
Well slightly more than that 1.027^16/1.011^16 is 28.5% up.
Try this maths with the current low fertility rates in Europe it does not look too clever. The future belongs to those who show up as Mark Steyn puts it. Also try in on your investments with and without half going in tax each year. A return of say 10% or of 5%. The government ends up with nearly all your money in just a generation even without wealth taxes or IHT on death.
March 19, 2025
They both say they’re going to cut welfare, but they only amend it
Why don’t they cut foreign aid, net zero, nuclear weapons, immigration, carbon storage, payments to EU & UN first
March 19, 2025
That ought to make a large dent in the balance between spend and tax!
March 19, 2025
oops
March 19, 2025
No real savings, Labours plan not due to come into force until November 2026 according to news reports this morning.
At the moment lower paid work simply does not pay, that is why so many choose benefits instead.
Tax rates too high, personal allowances and all tax thresholds too low.
Government spending and waste too high.
I see it has been reported that the Civil Service has the use of 20,000 credit cards, with it would seem little check on what the money is spent on !
How many more schemes/benefits like this ?
March 20, 2025
I disagree that lower-paid work doesn’t pay; the minimum pay at age 18 will be £400 per week. How can that not pay for someone with no qualifications and no experience? £20,800 pa they pay tax and NI over £12,570 at 28% £5824 = £14976. £288 per week take home whilst you’re at home with your parents. How much can they get at 18 on benefits? I didn’t think they were eligible for any.
March 20, 2025
a-tracy
Yes work pay’s of course, but when you can sit at home do nothing and get more, It really makes it a complete farce, thus many ask why should I bother to get up off my backside when I will be no better off !
On another issue.
No one had “mental issues” when I was at school, families simply had to cope, and look after their own.
Yes specialist schools existed for those with a proven medical problem, but the numbers were small.
Likewise Companies years ago were encouraged to take on people with physical handicaps, with government grants which offset their lack of productivity.
Indeed we had special production lines geared up for such people in many factories back in the 1960-1970’s.
March 21, 2025
Yes, and in those days, the government paid the sick pay, not the employer, unless you were in a big monopoly industry or public sector.
March 19, 2025
In other words they don’t have a clue as to how to reform the benefits bill. They need to keep their voters happy, but the whole system is so complex it will never be made to work in it’s present form.
What we need is a total reform of the concept of welfare – Of course we need a safety net for those that really need it. What we don’t need is us spending great sums where people are able or recently arrived in this country on alleged humanitarian grounds.
The current system encourages sloth and waste, but we should be looking at why so many now depend on benefits – how the heck did we get so many disabled, sick or workshy.
That is not just about poor quality food and chemicals in the water table, it is very much about the attitude of government – which percolates down all levels, and how they have made the future look so dim while encouraging dishonesty at every level.
YES our society is sick but that is because the figures that lead our nation have failed us in every possible way!
March 19, 2025
Education, education, education. The constant drip, drip, drip of how awful white males and the country the children and youths live in are so awful – colonialist, misogynist, racist and oppressive – and how their country’s foundation in Judeo-Christianity is Far Right and Islamophobic, how all, without effort, deserve equal prizes and outcomes, how entitled they are to a better life.
March 19, 2025
Welfare a very convoluted situation that starts out from being ‘well-meaning’ that gets seemingly sized on by those that know how to ‘play’ the system, that in-turn distorts the good intention.
Welfare has morphed into an entitlement while State Pensions have become just a ‘benefit’. There is disparity everywhere, contribute to NI to secure a future, don’t contribute and you get rewarded with the same as those that do. Who then is being ‘kicked-in-the-teeth’?
Part, just part, of the answer is to get NI to mean what was inferred when created, a full back insurance system to cope with unforeseen situations paid for by all. Unfortunately in the UK, The State, the Government and Parliament has chosen to run an illegal ‘Ponzi’ scheme instead. Like all ‘Ponzi’ schemes those that organise and run them have become prisoners of their own hypocrisy.
March 19, 2025
‘Mental Illness’ isn’t it mental insanity to pay benefits to the criminal invaders to our shores. At best the only consideration should be these criminal invading from safe-havens should be treated the same as a UK Citizen in their own home country. To do differently undermines the structures in the UK that the UK Citizen has to fund.
March 19, 2025
“Labour and Conservative agree the welfare bill is too high and growing too fast. They both agree it needs to be brought down”
That’s quite a claim to make given that it was the Conservatives who oversaw the massive surge in welfare costs during their 14 years in power. If they thought it needed to be brought down why didn’t they do it ? No, like NHS reform it’s only Labour of the two main parties who dare even try to implement measures in these areas (as Wes Streeting has pointed out), the Conservatives are far too scared of being branded the “nasty party” by people who wouldn’t vote for them anyway.
March 19, 2025
The Conservative Party had no core beliefs as a party, although some individuals did and still do. But as a party there was a vacuum at its core where there ought to have been a conservative philosophy of government in the national interest. As a result it was weak in government and pandered to any noisy group just to gain a few votes.
March 19, 2025
Surely many mobility PiPs can be cancelled now that internet working, shopping (including food from supermarkets) and entertainment is now commonplace? Particularly the need for new BMWs?
March 19, 2025
Off topic, here is a Commons Library Research Briefing for a forthcoming debate:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2025-0067/
“A Westminster Hall debate on e-petition 700005, relating to the UK joining the European Union, is scheduled for Monday 24 March 2025, from 4:30pm. The debate will be led by Paul Davies MP.”
And here is a link to the cross-party non-party Campaign Against Rejoining the EU:
March 19, 2025
From today’s Telegraph
Britain can’t afford to defend itself – the expanding welfare state is to blame
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/03/18/how-the-expanding-welfare-state-has-eaten-britains-military/
We cant defend our shores from unarmed criminal invaders, yet TwoTierKier wants to sacrifice UK lives to help his ego with his EU Chums in the Ukraine
March 19, 2025
The State Pension is already treated as part of taxable earnings.
Should all benefits be taxable earnings?
March 19, 2025
I couldn’t live on disability benefit of £70 a week, says Labour minister.
A Labour politician, economist, author, and newspaper columnist has a background in economic policy. A background economic policy doesn’t make you and economist, some of his take-aways
• Make everyone pay inheritance tax by scrapping the nil-rate band.
• Raise Capital Gains Tax on shares to 37% and real estate to 53%
• Charge Capital Gains Tax on death and when moving out of UK.
• Slashing VAT registration threshold to £30,000.
• Scrap business and agricultural property reliefs.
He is the only one labour thinks could replace Racheal from complaints – so be careful what you wish for.
The Marxist/Socialists that permutate the whole of Parliament just don’t get ‘it’, it is not tax that really funds the State in the long term, it is the money that is sloshing around the economy. It’s the money that creates the economy, it creates wealth, in turn the economy can then fund tax for our infrastructure needs.
We are paying benefits out of earnings we don’t have. We are paying out in welfare support from money we don’t have. The HoC Library 10% of income taxpayers with the largest incomes contribute over 60% of income tax receipts. That is a situation that will heighten the UK’s demise – ‘its the economy -stupid’
March 19, 2025
‘JD Vance blasted the UK and other “lazy” Western countries, which he said have relied on imported “cheap labour”.’
Parliament and Government keep thrashing around looking for cheap lazy options, that do the opposite to what their lazy free-loading minds think. We need a parliament of the handworkers tough decision makers, that see it is ‘hard-graft’ that matters not the latest sound-bite in the media. It is the ‘hard-graft’ by those at the front end, those that create economies that are the creators of the UK’s future – they cause-it. Parliament, Government have become ‘free-loaders’ they no longer serve anyone but themselves, they between them are the ones that control expenditure and they refuse. They spend but don’t earn, in fact they inhibit all real earnings and income to everyone but themselves.
March 19, 2025
Why do we keep housing unemployed claiming people in high-job opportunity areas like London without expecting them to work? If they arrive and have no family to live with in London, why house them in the most expensive place to be nice? When we won’t house unemployed Other British people in the Capital. London is becoming one big massive headache. Khan has a video on social media about the children of Muslims not reaching their potential, what about the other Neets around the Country no government wants to help?
March 19, 2025
A considerable investment in our children’s education was made by your government job, keeping them in school (or supposed training) until they are all 18. Rishi even suggested making them take Maths until 18 which would have resulted in more Neets.
Not all children are academic; more trade skill routes are needed, but technicians seem reluctant to take on employees and take on the responsibility of their day release, health and safety and mental healthcare.
Why are so many children, teens and twenties stressed? Is it an overload of rights without responsibilities being taught at schools now? All 16-25-year-olds neets, what are they doing with their ‘free time’.
March 19, 2025
“A considerable investment in our children’s education was made by your government job, keeping them in school (or supposed training) until they are all 18.”
Well nearly half stay at “school” until 21/22 funded by soft loans for usually worthless degree. Even those who have duff A levels.
March 20, 2025
job should have been ‘John’.
March 19, 2025
It looks as though they have not fixed the riding benefits bill problem. I saw a chart revealing that the previously forecast 70 billion pound cost by 2030 would only reduce by 5 billion as a result of the “reforms”. Coupled with high taxes, excessive regulation and the prospect of future reductions in available jobs because of employers nic and the impact of AI on businesses then the continued decline in the UKs economic fortunes is assured.
March 19, 2025
Labour’s third thought seems to be to dump the work-shy and snowflakes in the Armed Services. It would of course significantly diminish fighting capability but the extra pay for the ne’er do wells would increase the Defence Budget and make Labour look good by moving towards the NATO target without acully doing anything for defence.
March 19, 2025
Labour’s welfare reforms are nonsense. They will make no difference to the amount paid out on welfare because they run at the first sign of trouble. The only way to stop is to cut the benefits so work pays more. One way to do that would be to increase the tax-free amount to £20,000, with pro-rata increases of all the other tax bands.
Then the Government needs to get much tougher with GPs, who appear to be signing people off with vague non-symptoms. The genuinely ill need proper support, and the difficulty is sorting out the genuine from those just taking advantage of a weak system. The other side of the coin is to stop all immigration for 3 to 5 years because too many of them claim benefits when they have paid nothing in. Add to that free healthcare, and that makes the UK the most attractive destination.
March 19, 2025
I have often thought it curious that there is no way for the voters to call a general election. It used to be constitutional convention that general elections and a new government were formed around about every five years, unless the Prime Minister acted earlier. Then we had the Cameron-Clegg Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011 which removed the PM’s prerogative and disastrously shielded a rogue parliament from voters who had ‘decided’ (Cameron’s word) that the UK would leave the EU. This was repealed by The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 of Boris Johnson’s government. The 2022 Act, as far as I can see automatically dissolves parliament at the end of its five year term but leave the government in office. This is obviously necessary, even though legislation may not be continued, to cater for normal administration, the exercise of SIs and to act as necessary in national emergencies.
None of these provided for voters to force a general election on either parliament or the government. The FPTP system is a two-party system. Hence the absurd situation of the current Government with only a third of the vote but a massive majority which in no way can be described as a mandate to govern. But it can do whatever it takes it into its head to do.
The obvious conclusion is that we can get from this system very strong governments but that they may nevertheless have no electoral mandate. We get coalitions, not very often, but they may require damaging compromises, like that of Cameron and Clegg that gave us the travesty of democracy that was the FTPA. We sometimes get a strong government that genuinely has a strong electoral mandate, eg Mrs Thatcher’s, but not always.
Voters really are subordinate to the Westminster bubble of politicians who have a monopoly on the when and the if of a general election.
Is there any reason to be confident that there will be a general election in 2029 or thereabouts? It would seem not. Labour is developing a taste for cancelling elections that are liable to go against it. The mechanisms exist for it to avoid one in 2029 should it choose to do so. If voters had the right to call a general election I think that Labour’s day of reckoning with voters would come much sooner than 2029. That doesn’t mean the Conservatives would regain office. It could be Reform, if the polls are any guide. But I guess that means that in practice, voters will never get the right to call a general election because both Labour and the Tories would oppose it. We need another Glorious Revolution.
If anyone knows of a cast-iron guarantee of the end of Labour’s term of office, or of a way a general election can be forced by voters, I would be glad to hear of it. I’d love to be wrong on this one.
Reply Allowing voters to force an election anytime would make government even more difficult. I support the current law which means there does have to be an election after 5 years or earlier if Parliament supports one.
March 19, 2025
Let’s not lose sight of the direction the UK Politicos have taken us this Century. It seems to emanate from the concept that it is MP’s and the Blob that run the UK. And the only ones that can do the real work needed – in some sort of ruling overlord fixation. Its as if everything that came with the Norman Conquest should be kept in place – Lords & Surfs (Slaves). It is only the ‘minions’ that serve
To that end the desire is for everyone to work in the first instance for the State. As such benefits for all is the starting place and a must, no income just benefits. You are all part of the ‘Collective’ now, you will get a minimum wage and if you are good jump to their orders some frills maybe added.
Imagined? Just refer to the Chancellor in waiting previous utterings(speeches and economics writing) on tax and pocket money for the minions.
March 19, 2025
Today March 2025 – Bullion climbed as much as 0.5pc to more than US$3,045 an ounce. Another experienced Labour economist Gordon Brown, sold the UK reserves at US$275 per ounce. Just as with Nuclear power when the UK was a leader in the field he just ‘got rid of’ we don’t need reserves we don’t need energy.
Not only is the current generation paying for labours mistakes, their children will be generations to come. Is there a choice? The UK is now a one Party State, that offers more of the same Socialism or more of the same Socialism.
Strange when historically the nature and make-up of the UK people is Conservative, yet there is no Conservative Party to protect us.
March 19, 2025
I have been a qualified Nurse now for more than 50 years now. I work as an Advanced Nurse Practitionerin General Practice.I ltake on the same level of patient problems as any registered medic have 3 degrees in varying subjects ,have been a lecturer ,a manager and assessor and my personal experience of those who supposedly exceed in science has left me exasperated.
The difference is that I also take on physiological procedures and do what I can to prevent the long queues at A&E.
I am responsible and accountable.One.might say what has this to do with welfare.My reaction would be a Life times effort to help myself and my country without the conceit of those with a few years of non sensical science which isn’t in the slightest useful in a medical The science used in medicine is specific and if you haven’t practiced in every single aspect of medicine, then you don’t know anything.
Help welfare by being patriotic and blessing all the people in our country vwho contribute to welfare.It isn’t a competition..it’s a collaboration!
March 19, 2025
Sir John
Thankyou,for the item on Conservative Home
Says it all, especially with regards our absent PM and government. We can’t defend our own country, our own borders. What little money there is can’t fund UK’s welfare for its own citizens and the PM wants to grandstand and throw what we havent got away.
No one should lose sight of the TwoTier justice at play in the UK promoted by the man himself – any of our service personnel sent to the Ukraine that attempts to defend themselves will find themselves in the UK courts
https://conservativehome.com/2025/03/19/john-redwood-starmer-can-strut-the-world-stage-all-he-likes-it-changes-nothing-about-the-mistakes-at-home/
March 20, 2025
All window dressing. No substance at all. They want to get real and cut all benefits to the younger element who want to stay home and get them out cleaning the streets and parks for starters. That shouldn’t be too taxing for them. Then if they can read and write perhaps they could be pushed into office work to try to get high streets functioning again with people to serve.