LABOUR’S new employment minister has attacked her own department for being too harsh on benefit claimants.
Dame Diana Johnson said job centres are “often about policing people’s claims” instead of providing “a service to support them through tough times”.
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Her comments come as welfare spending is forecast to hit £378billion by 2029/30 — almost double the £210billion bill of 2013/14.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer says bitter rival Nigel Farage doesn’t like or believe in Britain.
The PM branded the Reform UK chief his political enemy as he kicked off his keynote speech at Labour’s conference in Liverpool today.
It comes after another poll this week showed Mr Farage continuing to steal a march on Downing Street.
The More in Common survey said Reform would win a staggering 373 seats if an election were held tomorrow – handing the Reform UK leader a Commons majority of 96, bigger than Boris Johnson’s 2019 landslide.
Addressing delegates, Sir Keir said Britain faced a “defining choice” as big as rebuilding from the rubble of the Second World War.
He told the hall: “We can all see our country faces a choice, a defining choice. Britain stands at a fork in the road.
“We can choose decency or we can choose division.”
Sir Keir argued Mr Farage thrives on running the country down, offering false promises and feeding off grievance instead of backing Britain’s future.
He warned against “snake oil merchants” peddling “quick fixes” and “miracle cures” that only lead to “ruin” and “chaos”.
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