Kemi Badenoch didn’t turn up to the House of Commons for Labour’s major announcement on welfare reform.
On Tuesday afternoon, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall set out how the government intends to reform the welfare system.
This included announcements such as scrapping the work capability assessment for universal credit, narrowing the eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), an a “permanent, above-inflation rise” to the standard allowance of universal credit.
Hitting out at the “legacy of 14 years of Tory failure”, Kendall said the government was aiming to remove the “financial incentive” to turn to welfare.
However, the Independent reports that the Tory benches were sparsely populated for such a major announcement, with party leader Kemi Badenoch nowhere to be seen.
As a result, it was left to shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately to lead the Tory front bench.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride was also in attendance.
Welfare reform and benefits have previously been an area where the Tories have looked to gain votes, so their absence from the announcement is surprising.
However, it may well be because Labour are enacting policies that the Tories actually agree with…
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