Staggering 130,000 skivers could be let off thanks to Labour’s weak welfare plans, Cabinet minister Mel Stride warns
LABOUR’S soft-touch welfare plans would let 130,000 skivers off the hook every month, Tory analysis shows.
This could cost hard-working taxpayers a whopping £2 billion over five years, ministers have said.
Labour has vowed to ease “punitive sanctions” for Brits on welfare in their national policy framework (NPF) – which forms the heart of their next election manifesto.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: “Labour’s soft touch to the welfare system is not only reckless, it’s unfair.
“It’s no wonder that Labour have never left office with unemployment lower than when they came into power.
“These proposals will leave fit and able people dodging their agreed commitments to find employment at the expense of taxpayers, costing hardworking people more than £2 billion over a parliament.
“Only the Conservatives will take the fair, long-term decisions to support people into work and grow the economy.”
Labour’s NPF spells out their plan to be softer on those on the dole.
It vows to overhaul “the current unfair and punitive Tory system and end punitive Tory sanctions which strip away people’s dignity, trap people in a cycle of low pay, insecurity and poverty”.
The government is launching a new crackdown on benefit claimants who “choose to coast”.
Under a radical shake-up, those who refuse to work and do not turn up for job coaching sessions face getting their handouts and free medical prescriptions cut off.
Ministers will use the cash saved to help pay for long-awaited tax cuts.
A Labour spokesman rubbished the figures.
He said: “This is a desperate attempt to distract from the Tories utter failure to get Britain working and get the benefits bill under control.
“Labour has always believed in conditionality – rights must always go hand in hand with responsibilities.
“If the Tories were serious about getting people back to work – rather than peddling falsehoods in an attempt to cover up their dire record – they would adopt Labour’s plan to tackle the root causes of economic inactivity and bring the benefits bill down.”