Badenoch proposes £36bn welfare cuts including disability benefits
Kemi Badenoch has launched a Conservative policy document proposing about £36bn in cuts to disability and other benefits, citing double amputees who run marathons to question eligibility.
Kemi Badenoch has proposed cutting about £36bn from disability and other benefits, setting out the plan in a Conservative policy document titled «Welfare That Works». The proposal, which the Conservative leader framed as a way to reduce the overall welfare bill, puts disability support at the centre of the party's approach to public spending.
To make the case for tighter eligibility, Badenoch pointed to double amputees who run marathons as an example of why disability benefit rules should be questioned. She also argued that a diagnosis of ADHD alone should not be enough to justify disability benefits. The remark is likely to draw sharp reaction from disability and mental health campaigners, who are already sceptical of changes that would narrow access to support.
The cuts are presented as part of a wider effort to reduce welfare spending while keeping the system focused on people who most need help. Badenoch's framing treats the size of the benefits bill as a central problem, and the document's emphasis on eligibility signals that assessment criteria would become a key battleground in any debate that follows. The £36bn figure applies to disability and other benefits combined, and the document places the savings within its broader argument about the cost of the welfare system.
Separately, the day's political coverage turned to Labour. Lucy Powell, who was vice chair of Labour's 2015 election campaign, defended her role in arranging Ed Miliband's 2015 interview with Russell Brand, but said she now regrets it. Brand was at that time building a powerful platform through his online show The Trews, and Powell said the interview looks different in light of allegations that later emerged.
Powell said the social media era had made past allegations harder to find, and argued that the situation would be handled differently today. Brand has since been convicted of rape. Powell urged women to come forward, saying that those who do will be believed, and claimed Brand would have been stopped sooner under current conditions.
Elsewhere in the day's coverage, Donald Trump floated UFC chief Dana White as a possible White House press secretary. In a post, Trump described White as a «violent Fighter and Warrior» and suggested UFC fighters could defend him against the «Lunatic Left». Commentators noted that the UFC is widely seen as aligned with MAGA politics, and argued that while sport has historically been unifying, partisanship may be changing that role.
Source: theguardian.com
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