Labour MP Clive Lewis has challenged the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, on her proposed changes to the welfare system.
Clive Lewis posted to X:
My government is trying to do two incompatible things simultaneously. On the one hand, it’s trying to fix our broken welfare system while saving money. This is not possible, and I told the minister in parliament today that her £5billion cut to disability support would increase hardship in my constituency and is contrary to the values of my party.
Ultimately, this Labour government is facing hard limits in doing what is right for our class while appeasing the interests of big business and the wealthy. They are incompatible aims and my party must choose in whose interests we are governing.
Mr Lewis also posted a video of himself questioning Liz Kendall in the House of Commons:
Can I ask the minister when she made the decision, when they made the decision, sorry, to go down this route, did they understand the pain and difficulty that this will cause millions of people, millions of our constituents who are using food banks, who are using social supermarkets, people who are on the brink. This £5billion cut is going to impact them more than I think her department is giving credit for. And I would like her department to be able to look my constituents in the eye when I go back to them to tell them that this is going to work for them. Because as things stand, my constituents, my friends, my family are very angry about this, and they do not think this is the kind of action that a Labour government takes.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall replied:
I have great respect for my honourable friend, but let me just say this to him.
I've spent years chairing feeding Leicester the program to end hunger in my city, and I know that I can look my constituents in the eye and say to them, I know that getting more people into better paid jobs is the key to their future success. I know dealing with their mental health problems, which we know are so prevalent, is is absolutely essential. We, the Labour Party, believe that if you can work, we will give you the help to get back on your feet, because that is the long term route to tackling poverty, tackling inequality, which is what this Labour party is all about.
https://twitter.com/labourlewis/status/1902010710135078928
