A welfare safety net is important.  We can’t predict the future and potentially, circumstances can conspire against any of us, resulting in a need for us to seek support. Preserving that safety net and being able to support those who cannot support themselves matters, especially if due to severe disability or illness.    

At the same time, our welfare system is seeing much greater demand and the projections are concerning.  Since Labour came to power last year, an additional 1.1 million more people are claiming Universal Credit, and nearly half of all claims had no conditionality to look for work, a proportion that continues to grow.  As of July this year, there were 8.0 million people claiming Universal Credit, up from 6.9 million people in July 2024.

The Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts that spending on health and disability benefits will be approaching £100 billion by 2030.  In this scenario, it will equate to around £1 in every £4 of income tax being spent, equivalent to almost £1,500 annually per person across the entire UK and more than the entire defence budget.

When you add this to the fact that interest payments on the national debt are already higher than the defence budget, and that defence spending itself is having to significantly increase due to global threats, you can see our country has huge financial difficulties.

Last week in the national interest, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch offered to work with the Labour Government to work on a plan to cut welfare spending.  This is needed as the Government’s own backbench MPs, including Crawley’s, have boxed in the Government by refusing to back any meaningful reductions.  This offer was rejected and bodes badly for the November budget, where big tax hikes are now increasingly likely.

When you note that Nigel Farage’s latest outfit Reform UK, have said they agree with many Labour MPs who want to remove the two-child benefit cap, which risks further entrenching dependency, it becomes apparent that the Conservatives are the only party serious about modernising welfare, so that the safety net can be sustainable in the long term.    

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

17th September 2025