A FORMER Labour candidate was applauded on Question Time when she tore into the party’s plans to make welfare cuts.
Faiza Shaheen said she was “upset and shocked” at Keir Starmer’s plans and accused Labour of treating benefit claimants like cheats.
The Prime Minister wants to slash upwards of £5 billion from the welfare bill and it has been rumoured many Labour MPs are unhappy about the proposals.
It is expected that Personal Independence Payments (PIP) will be frozen next year.
There will also be changes to the way Universal Credit is calculated. The basic rate paid to those searching for work will be raised, while the rate for those who are judged as unfit for work will be cut.Shaheen, who was controversially dropped just before the General Election, said on the panel: “There is always money for war, but not for the poor.
“I saw my own mum, I saw her go through this under the cuts under the Tories. She had heart failure. Did she want heart failure? Absolutely not, she was in her mid-50s. They came, they harassed her. It was absolutely heart breaking to see and anyone that knows someone that’s been through that you will know the lack of dignity.
“There is always money for war, but not for the poor” Economist and activist Faiza Shaheen says there are “better ideas” to save money instead of cutting the welfare budget, such as taxing the “ultra rich” #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/xdEZAFRNPg
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) March 13, 2025
“And underlying this – and I am so upset and shocked to see this come from a Labour government – the idea that somehow the people that are struggling, people that are on benefits, are all cheating. That’s just not the case.”
Labour Treasury minister Emma Reynolds cut in to claim that is not what the Government is saying.
“That’s the implication for always going for this group of people and honestly, there are so many better ideas to raise money.”
Shaheen made the case for the introduction of a wealth tax for those who have more than £10 million in assets.
She went on: “The richest in this country, the ultra-rich, have got so much richer in recent years, especially during Covid, and if we just took a small percentage of those, those with over £10 million in wealth, which is something most of couldn’t imagine, and put a 2% tax on that that could raise £24 billion a year.”
Shaheen defended the idea even when host Fiona Bruce pointed out some countries had brought in a wealth tax and then abandoned it.
“I worked with governments around the world actually that were looking at this and one thing they did was they were very clear about what the money was going to be used for, they spoke about it terms of solidarity, and so the public was really behind it, and so the rich knew there wasn’t much they could do to argue against it,” said Shaheen.
She argued it was a “key moment” to bring in such a measure when we “want to increase defence spending, want to improve services, when we’re dealing with the climate crisis”.
On Wednesday Labour backbencher Richard Burgon told the Prime Minister not to target the "poor and vulnerable" and to instead introduce a tax on the "very wealthiest" people in Britain.
He said: “Disabled people in my constituency are frightened. And they are frightened because they are again hearing the language of: ‘Tough choices.’
“And they know from bitter experience that when politicians talk about tough choices, it means the easy option of making the poor and vulnerable pay. So instead of cutting benefits for disabled people, wouldn’t the moral thing to do, the courageous thing to do, be to make a real tough choice and introduce a wealth tax on the very wealthiest people in our society.”
In response, Starmer said the Tories left behind a "broken welfare system" and said it was "indefensible" millions of people were locked out of work.
There has been some speculation the plans could be watered down to limit anger from Labour MPs.
The Prime Minister's team spent Wednesday in discussions with angry MPs. Potential rebels were brought into Downing Street in batches to speak to Starmer's political director Claire Reynolds.
One MP who was invited to the discussions said that they felt the UK Government was "panicking" and could be forced into making "small" changes to the policy.
Another said: “They can’t just introduce cuts to PIP and not expect a backlash. They’re going to have to back down.”
