For those no longer eligible for health and disability benefits, this would be matched by a twin-track offer: access to treatment, including mental health care and physiotherapy, alongside targeted employment support \u2013 local programmes, job matching, skills and childcare. These would be funded through system savings.<\/p>\n
The \u201cemergency handbrake\u201d is designed to be implemented quickly, using existing powers, to slow the flow of new claims while longer-term reforms are developed. And, as new polling conducted by YouGov for TBI reveals for the first time, there is clear public backing for reform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The political case for reform\u00a0<\/p>\n
The numbers are striking. Some 62% of people say the welfare system is too easy to access and prone to misuse \u2013 a view that holds in all but five constituencies across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among groups typically more sympathetic to the welfare system, concern is still widespread. Even current Labour voters are more likely to say the system is \u201ctoo easy\u201d than \u201ctoo strict\u201d. Among those who backed Labour in 2024 but now say they would vote Reform or Conservative, that figure rises to 69%. Nor is this limited to switchers: those who supported Labour in 2024 but now say they would not vote, or are undecided, take a similar view. The public has reached a clear judgement that the system is no longer credible in its current form.<\/p>\n
The government can learn from the political failure of past reforms<\/p>\n
The emergency handbrake avoids the pitfalls that doomed earlier reform efforts. Last summer\u2019s proposals were widely seen as technocratic, arbitrary and harsh. They reduced complex lived experience to crude tests and created the impression that the government was more interested in saving money through a \u2018budget for benefits\u2019 than in ensuring people get the support that is genuinely right for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Become a friend of LabourList<\/a> and join our community. Our friends support our vital non-factional work and get access to exclusive content and events.\u00a0<\/p>\n What is being proposed has a clearer and more defensible logic: conditions that are mild, treatable and non-work-limiting should not automatically qualify for cash support. Those classified as non-work-limiting would be defined on the basis of robust evidence, not arbitrary judgement. This is not about withdrawing support, but redirecting it \u2013 towards treatment, recovery and a return to independence.<\/p>\n The emergency handbrake turns a political risk into an opportunity\u00a0<\/p>\n Welfare reform is not an area where any one party has established clear ownership, a view reflected in our polling. That vacuum won\u2019t last forever. For Labour, that is not a consolation \u2013 it is an opportunity. Welfare reform is not an end in itself \u2013 it is how Labour protects investment in the things it was elected to rebuild: the NHS, schools, and national security.<\/p>\n The Secretary of State is right to think long-term. But the bill is rising today. An emergency handbrake is needed while that system takes shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reducing welfare spending involves real trade-offs. It will not be easy. But if the decision is that spending must come down \u2013 as public opinion, political debate and fiscal reality all suggest \u2013 these reforms offer a viable way to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Subscribe here to our daily newsletter<\/a> roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment\u2013 and follow us on TikTok<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, X<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>. You can also write to our editor<\/a> to share your thoughts on our stories and share your own. The best letters are published every Sunday.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Harriet Coombs<\/p>\n Harriet Coombs is part of TBI\u2019s Research and Data Unit, where she focuses on public services and social policy, particularly higher education. Before joining TBI in 2023, Harriet was selected to support the First Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport during a major rebalancing of transport investment. She also worked at the Department for Levelling Up and held a role at the Higher Education Policy Institute, where her research influenced regulatory changes.<\/p>\n View all articles by Harriet Coombs<\/a><\/p>\n Rithika Muralidharan<\/p>\n Rithika Muralidharan has focused on economic development since joining TBI in 2023. Previously, she was a Research Fellow at the Mann Deshi Foundation, which established the first rural bank for women in India. While there, she supported founder Chetna Sinha in her work![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Harriet-Coombs-100x100.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Rithika-Muralidharan-100x100.jpeg\")
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\n for the Gender Equality Advisory Committee to the G7, which focused on the role of investment and ownership in supporting and uplifting women across the globe.<\/p>\n