Labour’s Policy Divisions Highlighted by Nigel Farage’s Intervention
A recent intervention by Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has brought to the forefront the divisions within the Labour Party over policy, according to a report in the BBC. The Sunday Telegraph first reported on Farage’s intervention, which has highlighted the increasingly awkward divisions over policy within Labour.
Reform UK has announced that they would fund their new policies by cutting net zero projects and scrapping hotels for asylum seekers. A source told the BBC that Reform UK is "already outflanking Labour" on both issues. Although Labour had included a commitment in its election manifesto to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this parliament, the most recent figures show that it has increased since the party came to power.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who was interviewed on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, did not confirm if the two-child benefit cap would be scrapped nor if the changes to winter fuel payments would be made this year. When asked about Reform’s proposal to fully reinstate the fuel payments and scrap the benefit cap, she said: "Farage says a lot of things." The BBC reported that more than 10 million pensioners lost out on winter fuel payments, worth up to £300, when the pension top-up became restricted to only people receiving pension credit last year.
The issue of winter fuel payments has been a contentious one, with the BBC reporting that Sir Keir has announced plans to ease the cuts in a U-turn following mounting political pressure in recent weeks. The prime minister said the policy would be changed at the autumn Budget, adding ministers would only "make decisions we can afford". However, he did not lay out exactly what this would entail. The winter fuel payment is a lump sum of £200 a year for households with a pensioner under 80, or £300 for households with a pensioner over 80.
The two-child benefit cap has also been a point of contention, with the Observer reporting that Sir Keir had privately backed plans to scrap it. The policy, which prevents most families from claiming means-tested benefits for any third or additional children born after April 2017, was introduced in 2017 by the then-Conservative government and is estimated to affect 1.5 million families. However, the government’s child poverty strategy, which had been due for publication in the spring, has been delayed as it is still being worked on and measures including scrapping the cap are being considered.
Labour MPs have long been calling for the two-child benefit cap to be axed, with seven of them suspended from the parliamentary party for voting against the government on an amendment to do so. Four were readmitted in February but the remainder continue to sit as independent MPs. Pressure to remove the limit has remained on the government from senior Labour figures, including former prime minister Gordon Brown, who said it was "condemning children to poverty". However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who also appeared on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, said that any move to scrap the cap would be "nonsense". She accused Sir Keir and Farage of making promises they could not keep, stating: "We put that cap in at a time when the economy was in a better place – we cannot afford [to remove it]. People are just making promises, throwing out all sorts of things to please people when they won’t be delivered."
The BBC reported that the intervention by Nigel Farage has highlighted the divisions within Labour over policy, with the party facing growing unrest and threats of rebellion among backbench MPs. As the government continues to work on its child poverty strategy, it remains to be seen how these policy issues will be resolved. One thing is certain, however, is that the debate over these policies will continue to be a contentious one.
According to the BBC, the Labour party’s manifesto commitment to end the use of asylum hotels is yet to be fulfilled, and the party’s proposals to tackle poverty and support pensioners will be closely watched in the coming weeks and months. The party’s leadership will be under pressure to deliver on their promises, and the BBC will continue to provide updates on this developing story.
