KICK starting Britain’s economy is the number one mission of this Labour Government
When the British people voted for change last year, they did so because for too long the economy had not worked for them.
The cost of living crisis continued to bite.
HM TREASURY/UNPIXSRachel Reeves will unveil cuts on benefits bill within months[/caption]
And businesses were being held back by unnecessary regulation and red tape.
I am determined to turn that situation around. That’s why next week I will announce my next steps to turbocharge our economy.
That means taking the right decisions in the national interest.
Where the previous Conservative government dithered and delayed over the difficult choices, I won’t. I will not hesitate to make the right decisions in the best interest of working people.
Nothing demonstrates this difference in approach more than how we tackle the country’s spiralling benefits bill.
Next week, I will expose how the Conservatives lost complete control of the benefits bill – with a project overspend of more than £8 billion and no action taken to address that.
£8.6 billion is triple the amount we spend on Britain’s asylum, border, visa and passport agencies.
It would be enough to freeze fuel duty for another two years.
Or it could pay for a 1p cut to income tax, with enough left over to fill nearly nine million potholes across the country.
But just like with so many other problems when it comes to the public finances, the Conservatives turned a blind eye, called an election, ran away and left us to pick up the pieces.
Sun on Sunday readers will agree, as a country we cannot keep footing the bill for the spiralling numbers of people out of work.
The UK is the only major advanced country whose employment rate has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
We’ve got 2.8 million people not working due to bad health.
420,000 more households are predicted to claim Universal Credit health benefits by the end of the decade.
Nearly one in eight of young people across the country are not in education, employment, or training.
Where the Conservatives failed to act – this Labour government will.
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 can’t walk around it, as the Tories did. We’ve got to grip it, once and for all. That’s why we’re setting out our detailed plans before Easter.
That is the least the public deserves.
And it’s the least a business deserves. Because they can only reach their potential if they can recruit the staff they need.
That’s why we’ll introduce a national jobs and careers service, and we will meet the skills needs of the next decade.
This means the right people in the right jobs, powering up our economy and getting more money in people’s pockets.
Our Get Britain Working White Paper will turn the DWP from a Department of Welfare into a Department for Work.
Funding and powers will go directly to mayors and local leaders to drive down economic inactivity in their areas – because people who know their area, and have skin in the game, should make decisions about what’s best for their town or city.
But these reforms aren’t enough. We must have a no-tolerance approach to benefit fraud.
No one should be able to defraud the taxpayer and get away with it. So we’re introducing the biggest welfare fraud and error package in recent history, including new powers to prevent and deter fraud in the benefits system.
That means those who cheat the system could have their driving license removed, and those who refuse to pay stolen money will face having it taken from their bank account.
Conservatives failed on welfare because they failed on work. We can’t be serious about growth if we’re not willing to tackle it.
Where previous governments failed to act, I will.
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