Taxpayers burdened with bill for billions because of Burnham’s ‘catastrophic’ capitulation on benefits, Brexit & borders
7 comments 7 Next TAXPAYERS are on the hook for billions of pounds because of PM Andy Burnham’s capitulations on benefits, Brexit, borders and bungs for ex-colonies. A flurry of Labour climbdowns in recent days come with mega price tags that will add to a surging debt pile, which economists yesterday branded “catastrophic”. 6 Taxpayers face a bill running into billions of pounds over PM Andy Burnham’s concessions on welfare, Brexit, borders and payments to former colonies Source: Reuters 6 Shabana Mahmood’s U-turn on tougher migration rules for care workers could cost £10billion Source: PA Advertisement The U-turn on migration reforms alone could cost up to £10billion after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood spared hundreds of thousands of careworkers from tougher curbs.
She yesterday admitted it would increase the already blistering welfare bill by making them eligible for benefits much quicker. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Email address Please provide a valid email. Your info will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy You'll now receive top stories, breaking news, and more, straight to your email. She was also slammed for sneakily dropping proposals to raise the bar on migrants who can claim social security.
Ms Mahmood axed plans to save money by restricting welfare to British citizens, instead letting immigrants access funds after gaining residency. READ MORE ON LABOUR U-TURN CHAOS Labour's £10bn migrant U-turn WILL hike welfare bill, admits Mahmood TOWN FALL Labour COLLAPSES deals with Greens in 11 councils over 'Zionism is racism' policy Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp yesterday said: “Hard-working taxpayers toil all day to make ends meet and Labour wants to take their hard-earned cash to fund migrant benefits. ” While most migrants will now have to wait ten years instead of five to settle here permanently, nearly 300,000 foreign care workers and their families could still qualify after five.
That is despite original plans to force lower-skilled migrants to wait up to 15 years before securing settlement rights. Ms Mahmood conceded the care worker exemption would have an “impact” on the welfare bill — but could not say how much money would now be lost from the projected savings. Advertisement Most read in The Sun FAST RISE Meet CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins SICK 'ATTACK' Afghan migrants 'raped autistic girl, 14, in toilet attack on commuter train' FALLING APART Shock twist as tail of doomed Learjet recovered four miles from crash site EU WHAT?
Sachets of popular condiments could be BANNED from cafes in move to align with EU Her own department previously warned that care workers and their adult dependents expected to settle here by 2030 could cost taxpayers a whopping £10billion over their lifetimes. Following the U-turn, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch fumed: “Britain can’t afford the cost of Burnham. His retreats on borders, benefits and Brexit are landing taxpayers with an enormous bill.
“Labour are feeding their welfare addiction, whilst businesses are being hammered by taxes and our armed forces desperately need funding. “We can’t afford it any more. 6 Burnham has so far failed to get a grasp on Britain’s ballooning benefits bill Source: Alamy Advertisement 6 The PM wants to use the November 20 EU-UK summit to pave the way for closer ties with Brussels, a decade after Britain voted for Brexit Source: Alamy “He’s running up the bill to keep his own party happy and expecting the British taxpayer to pick up the tab.”
Mr Burnham also risks slapping Britain with a massive bill as part of his bid to get closer to the EU. This reportedly involves caving to Brussels’ demands to subsidise EU students at British universities. Slashing tuition fees for students from the continent could sting taxpayers for £450million a year. Advertisement The PM hopes to use the EU-UK summit on November 20 as a launchpad to forge much closer ties with the bloc Britain voted to leave in 2016.
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The Daily Mail reported that the £450 million tuition subsidy would be offered in exchange for British firms joining the EU's 'made in Europe' programme. Without it, a reader believes the subsidy is a one-way concession with nothing in return.
How we know
- Daily Mail reported“The Prime Minister is said to be ready to offer the cash in exchange for Brussels allowing British firms to join its 'made in Europe' programme”Burnham's surrender summit: PM to blow £450m on cut-price tuition fees for EU students and agree 80,000 a year youth 'free movement' scheme - as Labour pushes to undo Brexit (opens in a new tab)
He has touted a return to freedom of movement and even opened the door to rejoining completely in a fresh referendum. But as part of the talks, Brussels is demanding Mr Burnham scraps plans to deport EU criminals as soon as they are sentenced to jail in the UK. Thousands of EU citizens are currently behind bars in Britain, at a rough cost of around £60,000 each per year. 6 The British armed forces are in desparate need of investment Source: Getty Advertisement 6 ‘Labour don’t live in the real world or care about hard-working British people’, says Reform’s Suella Braverman Source: Getty No 10 yesterday did not deny they could agree to the EU’s demands, although stressed it was up for negotiation.
Mr Burnham has also been slammed for handing £40million to Caribbean projects amid the slavery apology row. The PM — gifted a South Sydney Rabbitohs cap by Aussie counterpart and fellow rugby league fan Anthony Albanese — announced the cash would cover infrastructure improvements over the next three years. Mr Burnham is open to offering a formal apology for Britain’s role in the slave trade. Advertisement But Reform UK MP Suella Braverman said: “This is a disgraceful betrayal of the British people that once again shows Labour don’t live in the real world or care about hard-working British people.
“We need to scrap foreign aid and support our own. How about this money goes to British young people who are out of work and to funding our armed forces and our brave veterans instead?” Britain is committed to £350million for major projects in the Caribbean over ten years. Taxpayers’ cash is being spent on climate-resilient economic infrastructure in countries such as Jamaica, Guyana, Belize and Grenada. Meanwhile, Britain’s spiralling debt interest bill was blamed for a “really catastrophic” squeeze on living standards by Resolution Foundation boss Ruth Curtice.
Advertisement Taxpayers are being forced to shoulder almost all of the burden of servicing the nation’s £3trillion debt, her think-tank warned. The annual interest bill is set to hit a staggering £155billion by 2027-28 — more than the entire education budget. Ms Curtice told MPs the soaring costs had made Britain “much, much poorer as a country”. RECOMMENDED STORIES She added: “The choice the Government faces is the extent to which public services or households absorb that cost.
“The reason we’ve seen these grim living-standards forecasts through the 2020s is because they have chosen to ask households to bear almost all of that burden.” Advertisement 7 comments 7
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