Recent changes to the Benefit System 2026 Government Rebalancing of Welfare Benefits Continues to Cause Serious Hardship
Source: http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-26/ww26-12/ww26-12-01.htm
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:09
Recent changes to the Benefit System 2026 Government Rebalancing of Welfare
Benefits Continues to Cause Serious Hardship
Volume 56 Number 12, April 18,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
Recent
changes to the Benefit System 2026
Government "Rebalancing" of Welfare Benefits Continues to Cause
Serious Hardship
On April 5, Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement [1] declaring
that "no matter the global uncertainty, I'm on the side of the British
people". This bombastic utterance seems bizarre when compared with the
content of his statement that "new measures come into force today to
support workers, pensioners, and families with the cost of living". The
highlight of what he had to say was more an admission of the criminality of the
cartel parties in Westminster, for, if the two-child benefit-cap,
"scrapped from today", would "lift nearly half a million
children out of poverty", then why the delay in so doing? He also linked
this measure to "his commitment to defend Britain's interests abroad and
stand up for people at home".
This bogus claim was strained even further beyond belief as Starmer
continued that "taken together, this action leaves the UK better placed to
weather current economic challenges, while working with global partners to
secure de-escalation and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to relieve
pressure on prices globally". As if the measures he announced were somehow
transforming the economic direction of Britain, let alone solving child poverty
in Britain! Linking his claim to the crisis created by the US/Israeli illegal
attack on Iran where Britain has been supporting Israel and the US all along is
shameful. The closing or opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the movement of
global oil prices have little or nothing to do with Starmer and his working
with "global partners". It does not put him on the side of the
British people or the people in Iran who have been brutally attacked.
Even on the two-child benefit cap, what was forgotten in Starmer's statement
was that the government had promised to reverse this nearly two years ago when
coming to power and had now only been forced to do it by a massive rise in
poverty. According to the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) [2], 4 million
children are now living in poverty in Britain rather than the "nearly half
a million" that he claims will be lifted out of poverty by the removal of
the two-child cap. Disability and rights groups have also pointed out that the
overall cap on benefits to claimants introduced by previous governments will
continue to impact particularly on those with larger numbers of children and
higher rents [3].
On the other measures that Keir Starmer said were coming into force on April
5 "to support workers, pensioners, and families with the cost of
living", his rhetoric is also very misleading. The government's own
language is that it is "rebalancing" Universal Credit (UC) and that
it will "improve basic adequacy" whilst addressing "perverse
incentives". But the fact is that the claim that people don't want to work
and prefer to exist on the receipt of UC - which is what is meant by referring
to improving "basic adequacy" and addressing "perverse
incentives" - cannot be sustained when the reality is that working people
are simply being called on to exist in those jobs with poverty wages attached.
The claim is that the "rebalancing" will be "making work
pay".
As the press release of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) says:
"Incentives that discourage work and trap people on benefits [are] to be
removed via legislation coming into force today." And: "Nearly
£1 billion taxpayer money [is] expected to be saved thanks to measures to
narrow the gap between payments for people on health-related benefits and those
actively seeking work." The reality is that new UC claimants found to have
Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) will now receive a much
lower amount, going from the higher rate of £429.80/month to the lower
rate 217.26/month.
Overall the new measures mean that around 2.25 million families with the
health element will lose about £500/year on average by 2029/30, whilst
around 3.9 million families without the health element gain about
£265/year on average. So the "rebalancing" is literally to take
from the sick/disabled, redistribute a smaller slice to the wider UC population
and the government bank the rest to increasingly spend on Starmer's war economy
to "defend Britain's interests abroad".
The second big "rebalancing" is that of Personal Independence
Payments (PIP), the main welfare benefit for people with serious physical and
mental health disabilities. According to disability and rights groups, this
measure is a subtle but brutal change. It targets people whose difficulties are
spread across several activities (e.g. moderate problems with washing,
dressing, preparing food, communication) rather than concentrated in one. To
get the daily living component, claimants must now score at least four points
in a singly daily living activity, not just eight points in total across
multiple activities.
Along with tax increases on pensioners' income that Starmer claims will
"support" pensioners, these and other measures - including the
abolition of legacy welfare benefits - will remove vital protection for people
with complex needs, often depriving them of housing and other vital benefits.
The Universal Credit which over several governments now has replaced most other
benefits, including sick pay, is being utilised as the central weapon in this
by government to cut benefits and "make work pay".
These actions of Starmer and the government, while the Prime Minister claims
the opposite, are not on the "side of the people". Neither is this to
"defend Britain's interests abroad". What is revealed is that there
is an ongoing restructuring of the welfare system in the direct interests of
the oligopolies and war industries that is no longer hidden. In other words,
the "rebalancing" of welfare benefits continues to cause serious
hardship to the people and benefit the rich. It is imperative that those in
need continue to make their claims on society, and be supported in doing so as
a part of defending the rights of all.
For new benefit rates see:
https://benefitsnews.co.uk/2026-27-benefit-uprates/
Notes
1. Prime Minister: No matter the global uncertainty, I'm on the side of the
British people
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-no-matter-the-global-uncertainty-im-on-the-side-of-the-british-people
2. Poverty: Facts and Figures
https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/poverty-facts-and-figures
3. The benefit cap is a welfare policy that limits the amount in state benefits
that an individual household can claim per year. It was introduced by the
Cameron-Clegg coalition government in 2013 as part of that government's
wide-reaching welfare "reform" agenda which included the introduction
of Universal Credit and changes to housing benefit and disability benefits. The
benefit cap primarily affects families with children, high rents, or both. By
2024, two-thirds of the families affected by the cap were single-parent
families, half of whom had a child under five.
Link to Full Issue of Workers'
Weekly
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive
Benefits Continues to Cause Serious Hardship
Volume 56 Number 12, April 18,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
Recent
changes to the Benefit System 2026
Government "Rebalancing" of Welfare Benefits Continues to Cause
Serious Hardship
On April 5, Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement [1] declaring
that "no matter the global uncertainty, I'm on the side of the British
people". This bombastic utterance seems bizarre when compared with the
content of his statement that "new measures come into force today to
support workers, pensioners, and families with the cost of living". The
highlight of what he had to say was more an admission of the criminality of the
cartel parties in Westminster, for, if the two-child benefit-cap,
"scrapped from today", would "lift nearly half a million
children out of poverty", then why the delay in so doing? He also linked
this measure to "his commitment to defend Britain's interests abroad and
stand up for people at home".
This bogus claim was strained even further beyond belief as Starmer
continued that "taken together, this action leaves the UK better placed to
weather current economic challenges, while working with global partners to
secure de-escalation and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to relieve
pressure on prices globally". As if the measures he announced were somehow
transforming the economic direction of Britain, let alone solving child poverty
in Britain! Linking his claim to the crisis created by the US/Israeli illegal
attack on Iran where Britain has been supporting Israel and the US all along is
shameful. The closing or opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the movement of
global oil prices have little or nothing to do with Starmer and his working
with "global partners". It does not put him on the side of the
British people or the people in Iran who have been brutally attacked.
Even on the two-child benefit cap, what was forgotten in Starmer's statement
was that the government had promised to reverse this nearly two years ago when
coming to power and had now only been forced to do it by a massive rise in
poverty. According to the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) [2], 4 million
children are now living in poverty in Britain rather than the "nearly half
a million" that he claims will be lifted out of poverty by the removal of
the two-child cap. Disability and rights groups have also pointed out that the
overall cap on benefits to claimants introduced by previous governments will
continue to impact particularly on those with larger numbers of children and
higher rents [3].
On the other measures that Keir Starmer said were coming into force on April
5 "to support workers, pensioners, and families with the cost of
living", his rhetoric is also very misleading. The government's own
language is that it is "rebalancing" Universal Credit (UC) and that
it will "improve basic adequacy" whilst addressing "perverse
incentives". But the fact is that the claim that people don't want to work
and prefer to exist on the receipt of UC - which is what is meant by referring
to improving "basic adequacy" and addressing "perverse
incentives" - cannot be sustained when the reality is that working people
are simply being called on to exist in those jobs with poverty wages attached.
The claim is that the "rebalancing" will be "making work
pay".
As the press release of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) says:
"Incentives that discourage work and trap people on benefits [are] to be
removed via legislation coming into force today." And: "Nearly
£1 billion taxpayer money [is] expected to be saved thanks to measures to
narrow the gap between payments for people on health-related benefits and those
actively seeking work." The reality is that new UC claimants found to have
Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) will now receive a much
lower amount, going from the higher rate of £429.80/month to the lower
rate 217.26/month.
Overall the new measures mean that around 2.25 million families with the
health element will lose about £500/year on average by 2029/30, whilst
around 3.9 million families without the health element gain about
£265/year on average. So the "rebalancing" is literally to take
from the sick/disabled, redistribute a smaller slice to the wider UC population
and the government bank the rest to increasingly spend on Starmer's war economy
to "defend Britain's interests abroad".
The second big "rebalancing" is that of Personal Independence
Payments (PIP), the main welfare benefit for people with serious physical and
mental health disabilities. According to disability and rights groups, this
measure is a subtle but brutal change. It targets people whose difficulties are
spread across several activities (e.g. moderate problems with washing,
dressing, preparing food, communication) rather than concentrated in one. To
get the daily living component, claimants must now score at least four points
in a singly daily living activity, not just eight points in total across
multiple activities.
Along with tax increases on pensioners' income that Starmer claims will
"support" pensioners, these and other measures - including the
abolition of legacy welfare benefits - will remove vital protection for people
with complex needs, often depriving them of housing and other vital benefits.
The Universal Credit which over several governments now has replaced most other
benefits, including sick pay, is being utilised as the central weapon in this
by government to cut benefits and "make work pay".
These actions of Starmer and the government, while the Prime Minister claims
the opposite, are not on the "side of the people". Neither is this to
"defend Britain's interests abroad". What is revealed is that there
is an ongoing restructuring of the welfare system in the direct interests of
the oligopolies and war industries that is no longer hidden. In other words,
the "rebalancing" of welfare benefits continues to cause serious
hardship to the people and benefit the rich. It is imperative that those in
need continue to make their claims on society, and be supported in doing so as
a part of defending the rights of all.
For new benefit rates see:
https://benefitsnews.co.uk/2026-27-benefit-uprates/
Notes
1. Prime Minister: No matter the global uncertainty, I'm on the side of the
British people
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-no-matter-the-global-uncertainty-im-on-the-side-of-the-british-people
2. Poverty: Facts and Figures
https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/poverty-facts-and-figures
3. The benefit cap is a welfare policy that limits the amount in state benefits
that an individual household can claim per year. It was introduced by the
Cameron-Clegg coalition government in 2013 as part of that government's
wide-reaching welfare "reform" agenda which included the introduction
of Universal Credit and changes to housing benefit and disability benefits. The
benefit cap primarily affects families with children, high rents, or both. By
2024, two-thirds of the families affected by the cap were single-parent
families, half of whom had a child under five.
Link to Full Issue of Workers'
Weekly
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive