Latest editorial
BLUNDERING George Osborne was told to tear up his entire Budget yesterday after being forced into a humiliating climbdown over cuts to disability benefits amid Tory chaos.
The Chancellor’s U-turn over vicious plans to slash personal independence payments (PIP) for the disabled — which even Tory welfare axeman Iain Duncan Smith branded “unfair” — has blown another £4 billion hole in a budget which already included £3.5bn of unspecific spending cuts.
Now he faces calls to take the unprecedented step of withdrawing the Budget and starting again less than a week after presenting it to Parliament.
The 2025 Budget shores up the PM’s political position with headline-grabbing welfare U-turns, but with no improvements on offer to declining public services or living standards, writes MICHAEL BURKE
In the current climate, it is vital to bust the myths and put forward the case for a humane and decent social security system that supports people, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE
The government’s retreat on PIP still leaves 150,000 new universal credit claimants facing halved benefits from April 2026, creating a discriminatory two-tier welfare system that campaigners must continue fighting, writes DR DYLAN MURPHY