York Disability Week

Helen, your £60bn is total welfare including pensions - £314.7bn to £389.4bn. Working-age health/disability is £58bn to £76.7bn (+£19bn), most of it inflation and caseload baked in before Labour. And Labour HAVE cut: UC health element (LCWRA) cut from £423.27 to £217.26 a month from April 2026 for new claimants, then frozen until 2029/30. That's £3k a year loss for 730k future claimants. That's a real cut, legislated in the Universal Credit Act 2025. You voted for the framework that allows it, then wrote a Telegraph piece saying Labour are "wishing the bill down". Which is it - do you want cuts or do you want to attack Labour for cutting? If the OBR forecast still shows a rise, it's because sickness is rising post-Covid, not because rates are generous - rates are being cut and frozen. Welfare increase is mainly down to the state pension triple lock which now contributes to 55% of total welfare spend, this is also down to an aging population. Working age welfare has remained relatively stable in real terms and as a percentage of GDP at around 10-11% for the last 40 years.