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.

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