The Conservative leader issued the warning as she gave a major speech
Kemi Badenoch is determined to tackle the benefits bill (Image: Getty)
Every British taxpayer is forking out £4,000 a year on benefits to working-age adults. That was the stark warning from Kemi Badenoch at a press conference today as she unveiled Conservative plans to bring down the eye-watering welfare bill.
Speaking to an audience of the party faithful and journalists, the Tory chief said Britain is spending a huge £180 billion-a-year on payments to working-age adults. She pointed out that this is more than the budget for the army, schools and police combined. And she insisted that fixing the system is a “moral mission” for the Conservatives, as she outlined £36 billion of cuts.
They include scrapping payments for mild mental health conditions and routine back and joint pain, ending benefit claims for foreign nationals without EU settled status, and reinstating the two-child benefit cap axed by Labour.
Mrs Badenoch lashed out at Prime Minister Andy Burnham for lacking the “will” and the “imagination” to cut welfare, as well as the support of Labour backbenchers, who forced his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer into a humiliating U-turn over an earlier bid to bring down the welfare bill.
In turn, Labour hit back, blaming the Tories for the state of the welfare system after their 14 years in power.
Mrs Badenoch said there must be a safety net for people who genuinely cannot work. But she warned many are being written off and consigned to a life on benefits.
Her intervention piles pressure on the PM ahead of the publication of two key reviews launched by the Government into welfare in the coming weeks.
But Mr Burnham is not expected to bring down the benefit bill any time soon after refusing to commit to cuts before the next general election, which could be almost three years away in 2029.