At Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), Richard Burgon challenged prime minister Keir Starmer on the government considering taking £6bn from disabled people via Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) cuts.
The real ‘tough choice’ is not DWP cuts
The MP for Leeds East said:
Disabled people in my constituency are frightened. And they’re frightened because they’re again hearing politicians use the language of ‘tough choices’ and they know from bitter experience… it means the easy option of making the poor and vulnerable pay. So instead of cutting benefits for disabled people, wouldn’t the moral thing to do, the courageous thing to do be to make a real tough choice and introduce a wealth tax on the very wealthiest people in our society?
There are various wealth taxes that could raise tens of billions per year, far exceeding the amount the government may take from disabled people via DWP cuts. For one, the Labour Party government could bring in a wealth tax of 1-2% on assets worth over £10m. This would rebalance society by £22bn per year.
In the October 2024 budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves did raise capital gains tax. But equalising the tax on the passive income of capital gains with the tax charged on working people’s income would rebalance society by a further £12.7bn. Research from Oxford University shows that this measure has the support of 62% of the public.
Starmer’s rationale for increasing inequality
At PMQs, Starmer responded to Burgon’s question about DWP cuts:
Mr Speaker, the party opposite left a broken welfare system… of course we need to support people who need support. We need to help those who want to work to get back into work… He talks about a wealth tax, we have raised money – the energy profits levy, taxing non doms and air passenger duty on private jets. But this isn’t a bottomless pit and we must kick start growth to get the economic stability that we need
For starters, the prime minister’s proposed DWP cuts target disabled people who cannot work and who are already on very low incomes. So how is that ‘supporting’ them or ‘helping’ them get back to work. They cannot work.
The wealth taxes Starmer talks about are also quite pitiful. Labour inherited the energy profits levy (a tax on oil and gas profits) from the Tories and have only increased it by 3%, thereby propping up fossil fuels and not establishing a publicly owned Green New Deal.
The air passenger duty on private jets won’t stop billionaires producing more carbon in 90 minutes than most people do in their entire lives. Chancellor Reeves increased taxes for private jet passengers by 50%. These fees of a few thousand are next to nothing for the super rich.
Another way Labour could rebalance an economy where the richest 1% hold more wealth than the bottom 70% is through ending corporate welfare schemes.
One example is the interest payments the Bank of England pays to private banks on the reserves they hold with it, including the billions from the bank bailout following the financial crisis. The New Economics Foundation has pointed out the Treasury is paying £150bn from 2023-2028 to fund these interest payments.
There’s plenty of ways to rejig a highly unequal society, but Starmer’s Labour are going backwards by making further cruel cuts to DWP benefits:
“Instead of cutting benefits for disabled people, wouldn’t the moral thing to do, the courageous thing to do, be to make a real tough choice and introduce a wealth tax on the very wealthiest people in our society?”@RichardBurgon #PMQs pic.twitter.com/5xKULDlBpu
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) March 12, 2025
Featured image via the House of Commons
