John Healey accused of surrendering to fraudsters by abandoning plans to save £200million of taxpayers' cash

John Healey has been accused of surrendering to fraudsters by axing plans to save the British taxpayer £200million.

Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves, while in No11, announced a plan to launch a crackdown on welfare fraud by monitoring Universal Credit claimants’ savings.

Current guidelines do not let anyone with more than £16,000 in savings to cash in on unemployment benefits.

She claimed the proposal would have saved £200million by 2030 - but, now, Mr Healey is tipped to ditch the plan altogether, The Telegraph revealed.

The move would cost taxpayers up to £15million over the next two years, the Treasury has forecast.

Condemning the move, Helen Whately, the Shadow Work and Pensions secretary, said: “There will be no savings in this Parliament and they don’t even want to make savings over the next decade.

“Millions of people are trapped on benefits and hardworking taxpayers are being forced to foot an ever-growing bill. We desperately need a Government with the backbone to tackle our broken welfare system.”

Andy Burnham could take sledgehammer to ANOTHER department within months of entering No10

Andy Burnham could scrap Britain's driving licence regulator in an effort to "rewire the state".The Prime Minister, in his "10-year plan" speech, will target unaccountable or underperforming quangos.

Government departments have been sent a "rewiring the state commission", urging them to identify arm's-length bodies whose powers can be folded into regional mayors.

In 2025, Sir Keir Starmer announced a massive review of quangos, including the abolition of the "world's largest" arm's-length body, NHS England.

Labour is said to be considering merging the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which manages driving tests and MOTs, according to The Telegraph.

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Online 'sickfluencers' blasted by Conservatives for rise in mental health benefit claims

So-called "sickfluencers", who coach people on how to claim benefits, have been blamed for the surge in benefits claims.

Helen Whately, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said previous campaigns to improve mental health care had fuelled a rise in benefits claims for conditions such as anxiety and ADHD.

The rise of sickfluencers has previously been condemned by Robert Jenrick, who warned that people were being taught how to "game the system".

Mrs Whately, who has previously campaigned on mental health issues, argued that some people with milder mental health conditions should be supported into work, rather than be taught how to receive benefits.

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