Fixing the welfare system is a ‘moral imperative’, Sir Keir Starmer has said – as he warned that a generation of young people have been written off for good.
The Prime Minister said, however, in a speech today that his party will take action in a ‘Labour way’ and not remove the ‘safety net’ that vulnerable people rely on.
Sir Keir’s comments at the Welsh Labour conference come after he was forced into a humiliating climbdown on welfare reforms in the face of a backbench rebellion.
He was said to have have handed them ‘massive concessions’ in a bid to avoid defeat in a crunch vote on benefit cuts next week.
The concessions are understood to include the watering down of reforms to personal independence payments (PIP), which would have particularly hit vulnerable people.
The Prime Minister said today: ‘We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won’t, but we also can’t let it become a snare for those who can and want to work.
‘Everyone agrees that our welfare system is broken: failing people every day, a generation of young people written off for good and the cost spiralling out of control.
‘Fixing it is a moral imperative, but we need to do it in a Labour way.’
Fixing the welfare system is a ‘moral imperative’, Sir Keir Starmer has said – as he warned that a generation of young people have been written off for good
Protesters sitting in wheelchairs hold placards reading messages like ‘Benefit cuts kill’ as they take part in a ‘No More Austerity 2.0’ march in central London on June 7
Sir Keir Starmer hugs First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan during the 2025 Welsh Labour party conference
He called Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan a ‘fierce champion’ and ‘the best person to lead Wales into the future’ to applause and cheers from the audience.
Baroness Morgan had publicly criticised the welfare plans and called for Sir Keir to change tack on restrictions on winter fuel payments, which he also eventually reversed.
Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC she was ‘right to raise concerns’ and promised to ‘deliver on those as far as we can’.
In her speech to the conference, Baroness Morgan said she was pleased the Government listened to her concerns and reversed planned welfare cuts.
‘I’m glad the UK Government is a listening government and they heard our concerns and changed their approach to welfare cuts,’ she said.
‘We were really concerned about the impact these changes could have on some of our poorest and most vulnerable communities, and we made that clear to our colleagues in Westminster.
‘And I am really glad they listened because that decision brings huge and welcome relief to thousands of people in Wales who rely on this support to live with dignity.’
Farmers gathered outside the conference in Llandudno to protest ahead of Sir Keir’s speech, with about 20 tractors parked on the promenade in the north Wales resort town by late morning.
Later, some 150 protesters joined a march for Palestine outside the conference, walking solemnly to the venue where they stood for a few minutes to the beat of a drum.
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill has its second reading on Tuesday, the first opportunity for MPs to vote on it
Protesters march with flags and placards during the Welfare Not Warfare’ demonstration
A small group of pro-Israel protesters shouted ‘free the hostages’ and held signs saying ‘free Gazans from Hamas’.
Sir Keir also said any deal between the Tories, Reform UK and Plaid Cymru at next year’s key elections in Wales would amount to a ‘backroom stitch-up’.
The elections to the Senedd will use a proportional system for the first time, meaning coalitions are likely.
The Prime Minister said it would risk a ‘return to the chaos and division of the last decade’ and risk rolling back the progress his party is starting to make.
He told the Llandudno conference it would be ‘working families left to pick up the bill’.
‘Whether that’s with Reform or with Plaid’s determination to cut Wales off from the rest of the country, with no plan to put Wales back together,’ he said.
‘I know that these are the parties that talk a big game, but who is actually delivering?’
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out making deals with Plaid Cymru or Reform at the next Senedd election.
Reform UK is eyeing an opportunity to end Labour’s 26 years of domination in the Welsh Parliament.
Labour performed poorly in this year’s local elections in England, which saw Nigel Farage’s party win a swathe of council seats.
Sir Keir also took aim at Nigel Farage, calling him a ‘wolf in Wall Street clothing’ who has ‘no idea what he’s talking about’.
He said the Reform UK leader ‘isn’t interested in Wales’ and has no viable plan for the blast furnaces at Port Talbot.
