Enough with the half hearted U-turns. Starmer must reverse cuts and prioritise compassion

25 May 2025, 08:00

This week’s changes to the proposed Winter Fuel Payment cuts in the UK are welcome to all of us who support a more compassionate political agenda.

However, they are not enough.

The most vulnerable in Britain are still facing cuts to welfare and disability payments and the continuation of the two-child benefit cap, which former Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week blamed for a dramatic rise in child poverty in Britain. Abroad, the cuts to aid will result in the deaths of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet.

It’s time for the government to make protecting the most vulnerable its core priority. Compassionate policy cannot just be a hard-won reaction to polling or poor results at the local election, it must be the guiding principle.

Politics is about choices. Who and what do we choose to put first? What are the values that underpin the decisions we take?  We understand the government, having inherited a dire economic situation, faces an often hostile media and a growth in support for the far right, but compassion is not a luxury. Compassion is a necessity – morally, socially, and politically.

That’s why we are calling on the Government not to make half-hearted partial U-turns but to use this moment to pivot to a new strategy that is founded on protecting the most vulnerable and prioritising compassion.

These are the values that Labour was founded on.

At Compassion in Politics we think they are not just right but also more likely to deliver results at the ballot box. Reform-lite approaches on issues like asylum legitimise and fuel the far right’s agenda rather than providing us all with a caring and compassionate alternative.

The answer is simple. Put compassion first.

This isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s also smart politics. Voters want fairness. They want leadership that reflects their values. A compassionate agenda is not weakness. It is strength – the strength to prioritise people and values.

At this moment of global uncertainty and domestic hardship, voters want hope, authenticity and integrity. The Local Election results showed that Reeve-economics diet of austerity-like cuts and doom laden forecasts are not what is needed right now. They have also obscured the multitude of positive changes the government is making. Instead Labour must lead with values and create a vision of a Britain that wants the best for all.

Piece-meal forced concessions won’t make the grade. It is time for a new approach. Circumstances have changed since Labour took office. We now face a crumbling of the old world order, democratic disintegration and the need to re-arm at pace. This gives more than enough of a political pretext, if one is needed, to change direction. We don’t need fastidious book-keeping; we don’t need appeasement; we need moral and inclusive leadership that can begin with a reversal of those policies that are hitting the most vulnerable.

The government has a real opportunity to reduce suffering and to rekindle its popularity. The question is: will it choose to lead with its heart?

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Jennifer Nadel is a Journalist and CEO of the cross-party think tank, Compassion in Politics.

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