Conservatives pledge £36bn welfare cuts targeting disability benefits

Summarised from 5 outlets · 6 reports · Updated 10 Nov, 13:45 · Archive

Kemi Badenoch has unveiled Conservative plans to cut £36 billion annually from welfare spending, restricting sickness and disability payments and reinstating a two-child benefit cap.

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, has unveiled a detailed plan to cut £36 billion annually from the UK's welfare bill. The party announced the proposals at a press conference on Tuesday, building on earlier pledges made at the Conservative Party conference last month.

The cuts are split across several areas. Reforms to sickness and disability allowances would save £13.7 billion, largely by stopping payments for routine back or joint problems and mild mental health conditions. This would affect approximately 2.5 million people. A further £9.5 billion would come from barring foreign nationals without EU settled status from claiming benefits. Reinstating the two-child benefit cap, which Labour dismantled last year, would save £3.1 billion. Child disability living allowance would be replaced with non-monetary support for mild learning and behavioural difficulties, saving £2.8 billion, with an additional £1 billion raised by tackling welfare fraud and administrative errors.

Badenoch said the weight of the welfare burden is 'crushing our economy'. She argued that the approach to welfare exposes a 'fundamental difference' between the Conservatives and Labour, saying Labour thinks 'cutting welfare is always cruel'. Badenoch acknowledged that some sick and disabled people 'genuinely cannot work' and need a welfare safety net, but emphasised that many others are capable of work.

To support her argument, Badenoch highlighted examples of people with disabilities who have worked successfully. '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,' she said. She specifically argued that young people with ADHD should be pushed towards work rather than abandoned to benefits, saying that telling them their condition means they are defective could be more destructive to their future than the condition itself.

The Conservatives published a 52-page report, 'Welfare That Works', setting out the case for reform and detailed implementation plans. Official figures cited show working age welfare costs the country £180 billion annually, or around £500 million a day. The total welfare bill is stated as £333.8 billion yearly, which the Tories say is more than the entire GDP of Ukraine and more than the UK spends on defence, education and police combined. Badenoch said the current system is unsustainable.

Childcare campaigners and Labour have strongly opposed the plans. The Child Poverty Action Group warned the cuts would cause child poverty to rocket overnight, while Labour branded them a 'charter for homelessness and human misery' that would only end up costing the state more in emergency support. Some reports note that officials previously estimated scrapping the two-child benefit limit would lift 450,000 children out of poverty by the end of Parliament, suggesting reinstating it would reverse that progress.

How it is being reported

• Tories lay out plan to save £36bn by cutting mental health support and reinstating two-child benefit capMs Badenoch announced plans to cut £36.1 billion per year of benefits at the Conservative Party conference last monthEvening Standard · 10 Nov, 13:32
• Tory chief Kemi Badenoch's welfare cuts plan will drag UK 'back to dark ages'As the Tories unveiled a blueprint to cut £36.1billion a year from the welfare bill, Child Poverty Action Group said it would cause child poverty to rocket overnightThe Mirror · 10 Nov, 12:43
• 'Double amputees run marathons': Kemi says having ADHD does not justify disability benefits as she unveils plan to cut £36billion from welfare billThe Tory leader highlighted how many people with disabilities have overcome adversity through hard work as she warned the cost of the handout system is 'crushing our economy'.Daily Mail · 10 Nov, 10:37
• Badenoch lays out £36bn in Tory welfare cuts and defends plans to slash disability benefits – UK politics liveConservative leader insists ‘double amputees run marathons’ as she launches Welfare That Works policy document Good morning. It is quite easy for politicians to declare that they will cut the welfare bill by X amount – but much harder when they have to explain exactly who will lose out. This is summed up by a good anecdote about a former chancellor (Ken Clarke, according to some versions, but it could have been any of them), who gave this reply when asked for cuts that would save £1bn: So, do you want one million people to lose £1,000 each, or 10 million people to lose £100 each? It is too…Guardian World · 10 Nov, 09:14
• Kemi Badenoch sets out plan to slash £36billion from Britain's runaway welfare bill - amid warnings it costs the average taxpayer £4,000 a yearThe Conservative leader will pledge to axe sickness and disability benefits for low-level mental health conditions and back pain, taking 2.5 million people out of the system.Daily Mail · 9 Nov, 22:00
• Kemi Badenoch says welfare bill is 'crushing our economy' as Tories pledge to slash £36 billionKemi Badenoch will say the welfare bill is ‘more than the entire GDP of Ukraine’ as she outlines how her party will make the cutsThe Independent · 9 Nov, 22:00

In this story: Kemi Badenoch · Conservative Party · Labour · UK · Ukraine · Child Poverty Action Group

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