Welfare

Steve Darling Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)]

I am sure that all of us in this House agree that we need to manage the benefits system, but that we need to manage it appropriately. The Liberal Democrats fear that the official Opposition are playing the man rather than the ball. It is systems that are broken and need amending, and that is where the focus should be, rather than on demonising individuals.

As a Liberal Democrat, I am extremely proud that the architect of our welfare state was Beveridge, who issued his report in 1942, which was then taken on by the Labour Government of 1945 and has built the bedrock of our society since. It is something that we need to ensure evolves appropriately, rather than the slashing and burning that we have seen.

From my two years on the Work and Pensions Committee, I reflect on how extending the pension age has significantly impacted a lot of manual workers, who are unable to continue in those roles for year upon year until their retirement age, and thus have to fall back on the benefits system. That is a pressure that has not been there historically. Closer to home, I am aware of the individuals who 50 years ago would have died very early as premature babies, but who now often live through to adulthood because of the marvels of health services around the world. There is therefore an added pressure on our benefits system.

I also reflect—I am sure that other Members will agree— that I will not take lectures from His Majesty’s Opposition, given that they saw a £33 billion increase in the benefits bill during their last year in power. Another element that I am alive to about those years of Conservative Government is the lack of investment in our national health service. Capital money was used on revenue spending, which has left a gaping hole that will be a challenge for years to come—that money could have been used ensuring that we were getting people back into work.

On the Conservative proposals before us today, it is not so much about seeing that there is a mask, but that the mask has been completely removed. The Child Poverty Action Group suggests that the proposals would see the biggest plunge of children into child poverty that we have ever had as a nation. It is often suggested that it is all about people who work and people who do not, but one third of people who are on universal credit are in work.

A few weeks ago, I met in the Lobby a lady who had come up from Torbay hospital, where she worked. She puts a fair amount of time into the hospital, supporting some of the most vulnerable in our society, yet she is still in receipt of universal credit. That is a significant challenge that we need to be alive to: one third of people on universal credit are in work. Similarly, there is the suggestion that people on personal independence payments are out of work, but an awful lot of people use PIP to get themselves into work.

There is a significant pressure relating to local housing allowance. In London, only 2.3% of rents are affordable using that measure. In my constituency, the average rent for a studio flat is £577, yet the amount paid by local housing allowance is £503. There is a massive gap between rents and what the state supports people with; they will have to subsidise their rent with other benefits that they may receive.

The Liberal Democrats strongly believe that the best way to get people out of the benefits system is to grow our economy. The botched Brexit deal has seen a 32% reduction in job vacancies in the United Kingdom, and that pressure continues to build. Sadly, it has been exacerbated by the Labour Government’s NIC hike, which has seen 100,000 jobs lost in the hospitality industry—jobs that are often a first step on the employment ladder.

We need to be alive to how to fix the system. Only last week, the Work and Pensions Committee heard that the system that supports people on carer’s allowance is older than the data officer at the Department for Work and Pensions. Significant systems need renewing in the DWP if it is to be fit for purpose. Cliff edges in the benefits system for NEETs need to be tackled, so that people are encouraged to go into work. Access to Work needs to be ungummed up; it too has an old system that has problems getting people into employment. The Minister spoke about Disability Confident employers, but the scheme feels to me like a tick-box exercise. We need to ensure that disabled people and employers work together, so that the scheme becomes a lot more meaningful as a driver of people into employment.

I will say it again: we need to play the ball and not the man. The Conservatives are behaving like the Argentinian football team at the last world cup; they played the man, rather than the ball. We need a fair deal for those most in need.