Kemi Badenoch pledged to change the UK’s welfare culture while lashing out at young people who refuse to work because they think it is “beneath them.”
The Conservative leader, who worked in McDonald’s as a youngster, said too few were willing to work their way up ‘from the bottom’ as she did.
This morning, she said that her party’s Economic Unit – which she is leading – will carry out a review of the benefits system designed to get young people back into work.
It will explore which conditions the state treats as disabilities and ‘draw a line’ on which health problems people receive help with.
Mrs Badenoch said it would be a party ‘crusade’ to slash the welfare bill so that it paid to work and create ‘an opportunity state’ in Britain.
In a speech in London, she said she and shadow cabinet minister James Cleverly had ‘worked our way up’.
She referred to her time spent working at McDonald’s and New Look when she was younger, adding: ‘I bet many of you here this morning have similar stories, but today we are seeing a lot of people not taking jobs because they think that those jobs are beneath them.
‘Labour sent a very clear message that if you work hard, and you do the right thing, you will get less, but if you are on benefits, you will get more.’
She said the number of people of working age claiming benefits was ‘completely crazy’ and the Government was taxing ‘the people in our country who get out of bed and make things happen.’
Mrs Badenoch said the Tories would review every circumstance where ‘benefits are currently paying more than work’ in a bid to cut the welfare bill.
The Conservative leader said: ‘We will undertake a full review of the level and operation of the household benefit cap, which currently acts more like a sieve than a cap, because most people on benefits avoid it through one exemption or another.
‘Exemptions like being diagnosed with anxiety. Being diagnosed with anxiety can be worth more than £20,000 to some families.’
Labour faced criticism over the weekend for attempting to reduce the large number of young people receiving benefits by using pubs and bars.
Ministers announced an £820 million package aimed at helping nearly one million people into work, with jobs in bars, restaurants, building sites and care homes.
The money includes funding for training and work experience for 350,000 young people on universal credit.
Others will be offered ‘intensive support’ to help them find work, while Government-backed guaranteed jobs will be provided for up to 55,000 young people from spring 2026.
But questions have been raised about how many people will get jobs in hospitality. The sector is in trouble due to Labour’s national insurance contributions (NICS) raid in the 2024 Budget, and leaders have warned that the recent increase in the National Minimum Wage will cut hiring.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) had warned that pubs would close at a rate of more than one a day in 2025.
The industry body, which represents more than 20,000 pubs, calculated that 378 pubs will close, with the loss of 5,600 jobs.
Michael Kill, the chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said: ‘The Government’s announcement of £800 million to tackle youth unemployment risks missing the point entirely if the businesses that create jobs are being priced out of existence.
‘You cannot subsidise people into jobs that no longer exist.’
Youngsters who came out of school would start as apprentices or just start at the bottom and work their way up; they did not feel entitled. Now everybody wants to be a celebrity or boss without any idea of what they’re doing.
We need to bring back National Service; they’ll know what hard work is then, but our government won’t do that because they have swiped a generation of children and made them into wimps.
Nowadays, most youngsters believe that any job is below them if they have to start at the bottom, but those who do take more menial jobs believe that they will just move on to better things. However, by doing this, they simply get the basics wrong, like turning up for work late. The point is, if they’re struggling to do a part-time job, how are they going to cope with the pressure of a full-time job?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 