Owen Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting ahead of Stephen Crabb’s first speech as Work and Pensions Secretary, said:

“This is an opportunity for the new Secretary of State to turn the page on a disastrous period for the DWP, which has been defined by Tory callousness and incompetence.  However, if he is genuinely looking to make a fresh start then it will take more than warm words.  That is why we have set clear tests that Stephen Crabb must pass to show he has learned the lessons from the past.

“It’s ironic that the very day before his first major speech, cuts to Universal Credit are introduced that will in time take £1,600 a year form over two million low- and middle-paid working people. If he agrees with Labour that work should pay, then he must announce a U-turn on these cuts without delay.

“The cuts to Employment Support Allowance that will make half a million disabled people over £1,500 a year worse off are just as rotten as the Personal Independence Payment cuts and should also be reversed.  The sanctions and disability assessment regimes require a complete overhaul. 

“Stephen Crabb also needs to settle two long running injustices that have festered at the DWP.  New proposals must urgently be brought forward to address the injustices for women born in the 1950s who are set to lose out as a result of the mishandled acceleration of the state pension age.  Surely the time has come for the Government to finally listen to sense, hold their hands up for a damaging mistake and scrap the illegal and discriminatory Bedroom Tax.

“If the new Secretary of State fully commits to these actions, I will be happy to work with him to ensure that at long last we can start to unpick some of the damage caused by his predecessor.”