The Tories are demanding foreigners are banned from claiming key disability benefits in the wake of Labour‘s humiliating U-turn on welfare reforms.
Kemi Badenoch‘s party will attempt to change the Government’s welfare Bill to tighten access to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit.
The Conservatives will table an amendment proposing a requirement for eligibility for PIP to be determined by a face-to-face meeting, rather than virtually.
They also want to prevent somebody from being classed as having a severe condition for the purpose of Universal Credit only by having anxiety, mild depression, or ADHD.
And a third amendment would block a planned increase in Universal Credit and restrict PIP for some people who are not British citizens.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer was forced to shelve Labour’s own plans to restrict eligibility to PIP, the main disability payment in England, in the face of a huge Labour rebellion.
As he endured his worst week in office so far, the Prime Minister also witnessed Chancellor Rachel Reeves openly weeping in the House of Commons.
She said her upset was due to a ‘personal’ issue, but it came as the welfare U-turn piled further pressure on Ms Reeves to fill a black hole in the public finances.
Kemi Badenoch ‘s party will attempt to change the Government’s welfare Bill to tighten access to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit
Sir Keir Starmer was forced to shelve Labour’s own plans to restrict eligibility to PIP, the main disability payment in England, in the face of a huge Labour rebellion
Mrs Badenoch branded the Government’s watering down of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill – now set to be renamed the Universal Credit Bill – as ‘farcical’.
The Tories will now look to lay amendments to the legislation with Mrs Badenoch due to deliver a major speech on welfare on Thursday.
She is expected to say the Conservatives are ‘the only party that is prepared to take the tough decisions to get spending under control’.
‘I have no doubt that, emboldened by their success in forcing Starmer to U-turn last week, Labour’s backbench MPs will now be eyeing up more concessions,’ she will add.
Under the Tory plans, PIP and both categories of Universal Credit health top-up would be limited ‘to British citizens, excluding all foreign nationals’, according to The Telegraph.
There would be an exception for citizens from EU countries who have settled status, who are entitled to equal treatment under the Brexit deal.
Under current rules, foreign nationals must prove that they have lived in Britain for two of the last three years to claim PIP.
Helen Whately, the Tory shadow work and pensions secretary, said: ‘The Government’s welfare plans are in chaos. Instead of saving money, the welfare Bill we’re voting on next week costs money.
‘We’ve told them how to fix it: stop signing people off sick for mental health problems like anxiety, bring back face-to-face assessments, and only give sickness benefits to British citizens.
‘If ministers had the guts to take up even one of these proposals, they could save billions – and spare the country from more tax rises this autumn.’
Labour’s original welfare proposals had been part of a package that ministers expected would save up to £5billion a year.
Economists are now warning that tax rises are likely to plug the gap left by the concessions to Labour rebels, as well as Sir Keir’s previous U-turn on axing winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
Ms Reeves has said it is impossible for her to rule out tax rises in the autumn, as she warned ‘there are costs’ to the watering down of the welfare bill.
Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, has demanded the Office for Budget Responsibilty (OBR) watchdog carry out an emergency forecast to update the fiscal outlook in the wake of Sir Keir’s climbdowns.
In a letter to OBR chair Richard Hughes, he wrote: ‘The public, Parliament and markets deserve clarity and transparency about the impact of recent events on the nation’s finances and the Government’s fiscal strategy.’
