Britain is at risk of turning into 'a welfare state with a country attached', Kemi warns
By JASON GROVES, POLITICAL EDITOR and DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR
Published: | Updated:
Britain risks becoming 'a welfare state with a country attached', Kemi Badenoch warned – as figures revealed the benefits bill is on course to cost the average household £6,000 a year.
The Tory leader issued the alert as she set out plans to slash the welfare bill by £36billion a year.
Welfare campaigners accused Mrs Badenoch of wanting to take the UK 'back to the Dark Ages' – but she warned Britain can no longer afford to support a system that is set to cost £5,917 per household by 2030.
She added there was 'no world in which the current system is sustainable, and not just because of the cost'.
Mrs Badenoch said the benefits debate highlighted a 'fundamental difference' with Labour – which 'believes the kindest thing you can do for someone who is struggling is to tell them it's okay not to look after themselves, and that there's nothing wrong with a life of dependency'.
She stressed that many overcome huge challenges to enjoy fulfilling careers, saying: 'The reality is that millions of people can work and do contribute even when they face serious challenges.
'Double amputees run marathons; people who are housebound do wonderful creative work from home. People with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
'If you tell a young person that their ADHD means they are defective and they can't do anything, that is likely to be more destructive to their future than the condition itself. Yet that is what our welfare system is doing.'
The Tories would axe sickness and disability benefits for low-level mental health conditions and back pain, taking 2.5million people out of the system.
Kemi Badenoch warned that Britain risks becoming 'a welfare state with a country attached'
The two-child benefit cap scrapped by Labour will also be reinstated.
Mrs Badenoch pledged a clampdown on child Disability Living Allowance, too, following a spike in claims that has seen numbers surge by 75 per cent since 2020.
But the Child Poverty Action Group argued: 'These proposals would take the UK back to the Dark Ages, causing the biggest overnight increase in child poverty since records began.'
Tory welfare spokesman Helen Whately said: 'We've created a conveyor belt on to a lifetime on benefits. This is a terrible thing.'
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.