Labour abstains on the welfare cap, abandoning the working class

Despite a cost of living crisis looming, Keir Starmer whipped his MP's to abstain on cuts to the Tory Welfare Cap. Of all the things for Starmer to abstain over, the welfare cap, one of the cruellest most unnecessary austerity measures brought in by the Tories ought to have been a red line if he purports to lead a party that represents ordinary working class people, but with Rachel ‘tougher than the tories on benefits’ Reeves at his side, he reminded us once again that under his leadership, Labour are no better. The Welfare Cap saves nothing, it simply inflicts financial pain on those least able to bear the brunt of it and maintains that shirkers vs workers mantra the Cameron government worked so hard to propagate. By backing it, or abstaining on it, you’re continuing to tell the most vulnerable, the ill, the disabled, all who are reliant on social security to get by through no fault of their own, that they are worth less. That their existence has a finite value to this government and if you can’t get by on that pittance of a handout that’s your fault. It’s made all the more cruel when you consider that even people in work claim social security because they are paid too little and many still rely on food banks to get by even then. Disproportionately it is families with young children who get hit hardest by this. Wages aren’t growing so more are finding they’re needing to claim to make ends meet and all the while rents keep rising, bills due to privatised services keep rising, fuel poverty is rising, food prices and associated poverty is rising, plus the government have already cut £20 a week from Universal Credit, but acts of social vandalism like reducing this cap as the Tories have done only increases hardship. reducing the household welfare cap by £3000, axing legally binding child poverty targets, cut child tax credits, cut ESA, cuts to housing benefit – it is cruelty heaped on top of cruelty and Labour were whipped by Keir Starmer to abstain on all of that. It doesn’t save money, but it plays well to the bigoted right wingers frothing at the mouth that other people dare, in their eyes, to have got something for nothing. These are the people who’s votes Starmer is desperate for, but if you want to represent such as these, what are you doing leading Labour? 184 of his MP’s dutifully followed suit, just 14 remembered who elected them and on what basis they represent their constituents, remembered which party they’re in and the ordinary working class folk that party was set up to represent. It should have been an obvious thing to vote against, but given dumping on the poorest and most vulnerable is such a vote winner to a certain soulless, red-faced demographic, it’s obvious where Labour lies now. people keep insisting we need to back Labour to get the Tories out, but when this is how they act, explain where there’s a difference?