Welfare reforms: Steve Reed handed GB News grilling on Labour’s welfare cuts as PIP bill predicted to soar

Mr Reed told Camilla: “It’s my view at the moment, we’ve got a situation where this really upsets people in my constituency, as it will all over the country. One in six young people not in employment, education or training.

“And if a young person isn’t in employment by the time they 25, they’re likely never to work for their entire life, their life is written off. We cannot allow that to continue, so that has to be a focus for this.”

Challenging Mr Reed, Camilla questioned whether the welfare bill is “really a focus” for Andy Burnham’s Government.

She said: “But is it a focus for this Government, because there hasn’t been a crackdown on welfare? If you make people living on benefits more beneficial than actually being in work, then of course they’re going to be disincentivised from working.

“We hear that the Pip bill is going to go up, it’s going to double by 2030, it’s going to go up by £19billion. So when the Labour Government says ‘we’re cutting welfare’, it’s just a lie, isn’t it?”

Mr Reed admitted: “Well they are going to have to rein in welfare spending, that’s the truth of it. But you’ve got to do it in a way that doesn’t penalise people who are already having a very difficult life, you’ve got to do it by getting people into work.

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“So with those young people who are not in jobs and not in education, instead of putting them on welfare and letting them stay there for their whole life, let’s put the funding in into the local area where the education institutions are, where the local employers are, and link them up and get those people into jobs.

“Then they’re not taking benefits, they’re earning and they become productive citizens, but their lives are better from their own perspectives.”

Delivering his verdict on Andy Burnham’s revival of the Help to Buy scheme, Mr Reed declared it is “very good news” for helping young Britons get on the housing ladder.

Camilla interjected, pressing the Labour minister: “But the bottom line is Labour will not meet that housing target of 1.5 million. You know that, don’t you?”

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Mr Reed told GB News: “Deep down, it’s a very stretching target, but it’s not impossible, although it’s very tough though. We’re up to about 500,000 homes now, ae’ve got to keep speeding it up.

“We changed the planning laws because they were such a barrier to development and those changes are now in place. So if you speak to developers, they will tell you they need a demand stimulus, help for people that need to get a deposit and buy their first home, because people just can’t afford to put money down for a property, and that means the developers aren’t going to build them.

“So the announcement we’ve just had is fantastic news. It’s something I was pushing for with the Treasury when I was in Government, but they’ve come out with it, the developers are delighted and I think it will make a difference.”

Challenging Mr Reed a second time, Camilla responded: “But you do accept that the 1.5 million target probably won’t be met?”

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Mr Reed said: “It’s a stretch. I think if people went out and said we’re not going to meet that target, everyone just gives up and we don’t get the development. So it’s a stretching target, and Angela said that too I think, the new Housing Secretary.

“You can look at other measures through the tax system, the council tax system, to incentivise people to make sure that empty properties, particularly in areas of high housing demand and a lack of supply, are occupied.

“But we have to aim for it to get as many homes built as we possibly can because we’ve got a housing crisis. You have young people in your family, as I do in mine. They can’t afford a place to rent, let alone a place to buy.

“And when I was in my 30s, I bought my first flat. I think young people today deserve that same opportunity.”