Andy Burnham has been accused of “turning the Labour Party into the Welfare Party” after he vowed not to prioritise the defence of the nation over benefits.
Mr Burnham told the Commons at PMQs that national security could not “come at the expense of social security”.
He said the nation’s security depends on “resilience in our communities”, adding that Labour would never be “forced to choose between the two”.
But now, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the Prime Minister of saying “the quiet part out loud”.
“For our new PM, social security – welfare – comes above national security,” she wrote in the Mail.
“The Labour Party has become the Welfare Party. The first duty of Government is defence of the country, not paying more benefits.”
The Tories last week detailed a plan to find £10billion for defence, largely through taking an axe to Britain’s ballooning benefits bill by some £8billion.
But the Prime Minister has so far refused to set a date for spending three per cent spend of GDP on defence, despite his own Chancellor John Healey resigning as Defence Secretary over the issue under Sir Keir Starmer.
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RECAP: Pat McFadden’s staggering ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’ remark
In June, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden was revealed to have told Lord Mandelson that every meeting he attended was about “who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others”.
The embarrassing messages were released as part of the so-called “Mandelson Files” released by the Commons, claiming the communication was a regular part of governing.
Mr McFadden had told GB News at the time: “You write things in these messages, and I’m sure everybody does, that they probably, when they wrote them, didn’t expect them to be published.
“Having said that, I’ve said both in private and in public that we need to change the question that the welfare system asks.
“What I mean by that is we need to move from a question which just asks what benefits you are entitled to, to a question that says: ‘How can we help you change your life?'”
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Outside Westminster… Piddington women pen urgent letter to female MPs as ‘asylum seekers’ set to outnumber them 10 to one
The women of Piddington have demanded answers from female MPs in an open letter amid fears of being outnumbered 10 to one by asylum seekers in their own home.
Labour is said to have drawn up plans to house up to 3,500 single adult male asylum seekers at a former military site near the village, which is home to just 350 people.
It reads: “We are 133 females living in a tiny rural community. The Government is planning to open nondetained asylum accommodation for 1,256 men right beside our village.”
“They would outnumber us 10 to one.”
The Piddington residents have warned MPs they would be “complicit” and “to blame” if the Home Office follows through with the asylum housing plans…
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EXCLUSIVE: The 42 Labour seats which pass Andy Burnham’s ‘Piddington test’
GB News exclusively revealed yesterday evening the more than 40 affluent Labour seats which could be forced to take in more asylum seekers after the Prime Minister suggested wealthier areas should play their part.
This was based on constituencies with a median housing prices of £390,000 and median weekly wages of £862.
The People’s Channel asked all 42 Labour MPs if they would support their local communities doing more to house migrants.
Only one responded.
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