Rachel Reeves to fast-track benefits crackdown and announce house building drive in growth drive
RACHEL Reeves today reveals she is fast-tracking a crackdown on sickness benefits as she declares: “We cannot keep footing the bill” for jobless Britain.
Ministers will now publish their long-awaited plan to slash billions from the disability benefits bill before the Spring Statement on March 26.
The Treasury is believed to be looking at cutting benefits for people who are signed off for “bad nerves” and anxiety to encourage Brits back to work.
It comes as the Chancellor prepares to set out her plan to breathe new life into the flatlining economy with a big growth speech later this week.
Casting off her usual doom and gloom, she has vowed to unleash Britain’s “animal spirit” and bring more Trump-like positivity to the economy.
She will kick off by announcing that newts and nimbys will no longer be able to block new housebuilding as part of sweeping planning reforms.
Writing exclusively for The Sun on Sunday, Ms Reeves vows to slash “unnecessary regulation and red tape” and “turbocharge our economy”.
Promising to get tough on welfare, she says the Tories “lost complete control of the benefits bill” spending £8 billion more than they budgeted for.
She adds: “As a country, we cannot keep footing the bill for the spiralling numbers of people out of work.
“Next week I will tell the country that when it comes to our welfare system, I will not hesitate to act, as we have done to restore the public finances. That includes looking closely at the rising cost of health and disability benefits.
“This is an urgent problem. It can’t be ignored. We’ve got to grip it, once and for all. That’s why we’re setting out our detailed plans before Easter.”
Her intervention comes after we revealed the Treasury was frustrated with Welfare Minister Liz Kendall for dragging her feet over the reforms.
A staggering 2.8 million Brits are out of work on sickness benefits.
Britain spends nearly £65bn on incapacity and disability benefits – more than the entire defence budget.
Ministers think it is unfair that people actually looking for work get less on the dole than if they plead anxiety.
As Britain’s economy flatlines and high street giants like Sainsbury’s lay off thousands of staff, Ms Reeves is scrambling to boost business confidence by promising growth this week.
Behind the scenes, Labour MPs are desperate to see the Chancellor spell out an optimistic vision for how to help business.
One said: “We need to do more Thatcher and steer the economy away from low wage low skill jobs to more productive ones.”
Another Labour MP said: “If it is a choice between hitting the 2030 eco targets and growth we must always choose growth.”
But one international millionaire fleeing Britain because of Budget tax hikes said it is already too late.
He said: “I have my bags packed and am ready to go on April 5. We are selling up.”
A high-flying City adviser contrasted Britain’s doom and gloom with Donald Trump’s pro growth policies.
He said: “Trump has done a lot more in four days than Starmer in seven months.”
Ms Reeves will this week promise to put growth first and unleash a building revolution.
She will signal her backing for expanding airports including Heathrow – despite opposition from some in Cabinet including Ed Miliband.
Builders will be given default approval to build new homes near train stations as long as the applications are appropriate.
Eco rules stopping big infrastructure projects will also be eased.
Currently, the discovery of animals like the Great Crested Newt often means important projects are delayed for years on end.
Old Trafford – the area around Manchester United’s football stadium – will also be redeveloped.
Ms Reeves said: “Too often the answer to new development has been ‘No’.
But that is the attitude that has stunted economic growth and left working people worse off.”