A swathe of celebrities including Sir Stephen Fry and Succession star Brian Cox have urged the government to reverse its “shameful” cuts to welfare.
Sir Stephen said the cuts should not be targeted at “the most vulnerable and overlooked of all our population”, while Mr Cox recalled his own experience of child poverty and argued the plans would “have a lasting impact on the lives of so many people already finding it difficult to afford life’s essentials”.
They were joined in their criticism by actor Stanley Tucci, who branded the plans “wrong” and said they would force parents in disabled families to “skip meals so that they can feed their children”.
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The celebrities’ intervention comes after Sir Keir Starmer defended his government’s shakeup to the welfare system, designed to shave £5bn from the disability benefits bill for working-age people, which is set to balloon to £75bn by the end of the decade.
The prime minister has branded the current system “morally and economically indefensible” and said the government cannot simply “shrug its shoulders” and pretend the welfare system is “progressive”.
He told Sky News political correspondent Serena Barker-Singh that he understands why some of his backbenchers are uncomfortable, referencing his late mother, who was “very ill all her life” and brother who recently died of cancer.
But he said it was “morally indefensible that a million young people are going essentially from education on to benefits”.
“All the evidence shows if young people are in that position and so early in their lives, they’re going to…
