Rachel Reeves slaps down Labour minister who compared disability benefits to pocket money

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said a Labour Treasury Minister was “clumsy” when he compared benefits paid to people with disabilities to the pocket money he gives his children. Darren Jones, who is Ms Reeves’s deputy in his role as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, sparked fury when he suggested the Government’s welfare cuts were like cutting his children’s pocket money by £10 per week and encouraging them to get a Saturday job. Ms Reeves has now issued a public reprimand, after being asked if he was right to make the comparison

The Chancellor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “No, he was clumsy in his analogy, and he’s apologised for that.” Pressed further on whether it was right to compare benefits with pocket money, she said: “Of course it’s not pocket money.” She added: “Far from seeing people lose money, we want people to be better off by having more support to get into work, and, of course, you are less likely to be in poverty, less likely to struggle with the cost of living, if you are in work, and especially if that work pays a decent wage.”

Earlier in the week, Mr Jones defended cuts to benefits for people with long-term illnesses or disabilities by suggesting it would encourage people to find work and could ultimately make them better off. He told BBC Politics Live: “My understanding is what the impact assessment doesn’t account for is the benefit that you get from our additional money into support for training, skills or work.

“Take, for example, if I said to my kids: ‘I’m going to cut your pocket money by £10 per week, but you have to go and get a Saturday job’.

“The impact assessment on that basis would say that my kids were down £10, irrespective of how much money they get from their Saturday job.”

Liberal Democrats called the comments “incredibly insulting” and Mr Jones has since apologised.

Charities supporting people with disabilities have responded with fury to the benefit cuts, including those announced last week and the additional cuts that were included in the Chancellor’s spring statement this week.

James Taylor, Director of Strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “The Chancellor confirmed a plan to massively cut disability benefits and as a result lower the living standards of disabled people pushing more into poverty.

“It is obvious these cuts are simply about saving money and not by the ‘moral’ desire to get more people into work.

“The government needs to listen to disabled people and understand the catastrophic impact these decision will have on their lives.”

The Government’s benefit cuts are set to push 250,000 people into relative poverty by the end of the decade, the Department for Work and Pensions has revealed.

This includes 50,000 children, the Government’s own impact assessment has said.

Jon Sparkes, OBE, Chief Executive of learning disability charity Mencap said: “This impact assessment lifts the lid on the devastating impact of changes to PIP and Universal Credit that will plunge 350,000 people into relative poverty, including 50,000 children. 96% of families who will lose out financially have a disabled person in the household.

“The government is justifying its benefit reforms and cuts to spending through increasing support for large numbers of disabled people to enter work, yet there is no detail on how many disabled people they can support into work with the £1bn investment.

“MPs need to consider the consequences of plunging their disabled constituents into poverty, with little prospect of plans on employment support meaningfully mitigating this disastrous situation.”