Labour has moral duty to get sick into work, MPs say

The government has a “moral duty” to help long-term sick and disabled people to work if they can, Labour MPs have said, as ministers plan to reform welfare.

The Get Britian Working group of 36 Labour MPs said the country faced “hard choices” to overcome a “crisis of economic inactivity”, in a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall.

The letter comes before Kendall is expected to set out changes to the welfare system, aimed at cutting the benefits bill.

The chancellor has earmarked several billion pounds in draft spending cuts to welfare and other government departments ahead of the Spring Statement.

There is unease over the plans within the party, with Labour MP Rachael Maskell warning against “draconian cuts” that risk “pushing disabled people into poverty”.

Maskell told the BBC she had picked up “deep deep concern” among Labour MPs.

She said: “I look in the past at what Labour has achieved in this space and believe that we can hold onto our values, ensure that we’re helping people and not harming people.”

But ministers are worried about the surge in the number of people claiming benefits since the Covid pandemic and the cost to the taxpayer.

As of January, 9.3 million people aged 16 to 64 in the UK were economically inactive – a rise of 713,000 since the pandemic.

The Department of Work and Pensions says some 2.8 million people are economically inactive because of long-term sickness.

Last year, the government spent £65bn on sickness benefits and that figure is forecast to increase by tens of billions before the next general election.

Some of the reforms to the welfare system have already been announced and include plans to use 1,000 work coaches to help the long-term unemployed into work.

In its letter, the Get Britian Working group said the cost of worklessness among the long-term sick and disabled “goes far beyond economic necessity”.

“It is a moral duty,” the letter said.

The letter said the group – most of whom were elected for the first time at last July’s general election – was formed to “press for fundamental change to our welfare system to support work”.

“We believe reforming out broken system is not only necessary, but also a truly progressive endevour,” the letter said.

On Sunday, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said the welfare system was “not fair on the taxpayer”, as he confirmed changes to sickness benefits would be revealed soon.

“We don’t believe it is good that if somebody could work with a bit of support that they’re left to live a life on benefits,” McFadden told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

He said 2.8 million people were currently on long-term sickness benefits and added that, if the government did not act, the level would rise to more than four million.

“We can’t allow that to happen,” he said.