Can the Tories’ tough-love welfare plans get more people back into work?
Helen Whately, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, joins Marc Sidwell to set out the Conservatives’ plans for reforming Britain’s welfare system – including tougher rules for young people and the long-term unemployed.
Whately explains the party’s new ‘Get to Work’ plan, which would require unemployed 18-to-24-year-olds to take part in employment support in order to receive benefits. She also discusses proposals to reduce Universal Credit payments for some people unemployed for more than six months, introduce prepaid ‘back to work’ cards, and potentially take family finances into account when assessing benefits for younger claimants.
Then there’s the wider battle over Britain’s economic direction. Whately rejects Andy Burnham’s bid to drag Britain back to the chaos and decline of the 1970s, defends the pension triple lock and argues that the Conservatives should offer voters fiscal realism rather than promises of greater state spending.
A tougher approach to welfare can help create a stronger economy, but can the Conservatives persuade voters that difficult choices today can deliver greater prosperity tomorrow?
The Capitalist is a weekly series from CapX, hosted by Marc Sidwell.
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