'Emergency handbrake' needed on sickness benefits, Blair think tank says
The Tony Blair Institute has called for an 'emergency handbrake' on sickness and disability benefits, recommending that people with non-work-limiting conditions like mild depression or ADHD no longer receive cash benefits. The think tank suggests reclassifying certain conditions and offering support instead of payments, while reinvesting savings into treatment and employment programs. Critics, including charity Mencap, argue the proposals are ill-informed and could worsen poverty and anxiety for vulnerable people.
- ▪The Tony Blair Institute recommends creating a new category of 'non-work-limiting conditions' to restrict eligibility for health and disability benefits.
- ▪Conditions such as anxiety, lower back pain, and some neurodevelopmental disorders could be classified as compatible with work under the proposed changes.
- ▪Mencap criticized the proposals, saying they ignore the realities of people with learning disabilities and could increase poverty and anxiety.
- ▪The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts spending on working-age health and sickness benefits will reach £78.1bn by 2029-30, a 15% increase from current levels.
- ▪The government has already cut the health-related element of Universal Credit for new claimants by up to 50% and saved £1bn through rebalancing the system.
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'Emergency handbrake' needed on sickness benefits, Blair think tank says28 April 2026ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMichael BuchananSocial affairs correspondentGetty ImagesThe government should introduce an "emergency handbrake" to cut the number of people who are receiving health and disability benefits, a think tank says.The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) says people diagnosed with conditions such as mild depression or ADHD should not be eligible for cash benefits.It argues such conditions should be classed as "non-work limiting" - with people offered support rather than money.Ministers said they would "consider the report" but learning disability charity Mencap called the proposals "deeply unhelpful and ill-informed."Welfare cuts: What are the Pip and universal credit changes?The…
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