Tories Pledge £36bn Welfare Cuts: What Kemi Badenoch Wants to Change – and What It Means for You

10th November 2026

Updated 10 Nov 2026, 08:30 · First published 10 Nov 2026

The Conservatives say they would cut more than £36 billion a year from the UK’s welfare bill, with Kemi Badenoch setting out the plan in a speech on Tuesday.

The biggest savings would come from sickness and disability benefits and from stopping most foreign nationals claiming. The Tories say the money would help pay for higher defence spending and tax cuts for working people. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has warned the cuts would leave people “in absolute crisis”.

The Tory welfare plan

Total savingsMore than £36bn a year

Sickness and disabilityNearly £14bn

Foreign nationalsAbout £9.5bn

Two-child limitBrought back

Housing benefitBillions more

WhoKemi Badenoch, Conservative leader

StatusOpposition policy – not law

What would the Conservatives cut?

Measure	What it means
Sickness and disability	End standard-rate PIP for milder conditions like anxiety, depression and ADHD; tougher, face-to-face assessments; review back pain, arthritis and whiplash claims
Foreign nationals	Non-UK nationals could no longer claim, except EU citizens with settled status
Two-child limit	Reinstate the cap scrapped by Rachel Reeves in 2025
Housing benefit	Tie Local Housing Allowance to cheaper local rents
Benefit cap	Tighten it and narrow the disability exemption
Motability	Changes including removing VAT relief on leased cars
Pensioners	Change how pensioners claim benefits
Fraud and error	A crackdown on mistakes and fraud

The party has published a 50-page document, but not every measure comes with a costing. No start dates have been given.

What is Kemi Badenoch expected to say?

The Conservative case

“Conservatives believe in a system that looks at people through the lens of what they can do, not what they cannot.”

Kemi Badenoch (expected)

“If you tell a young person that their ADHD means they are defective and will never amount to anything, that mindset is likely to be more destructive to their future than the condition itself.”

Kemi Badenoch (expected)

“The benefits bill has spiralled out of control.”

Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary

Badenoch is also expected to point out that “double amputees run marathons” and that “people with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world”.

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What does the government say?

Andy Burnham, speaking to ITV News to mark his first 100 days as Prime Minister, said “brutal cuts” would push people into crisis and shift pressure onto the police, A&E and the courts.

He would not say how far the welfare bill should fall. Downing Street says the government is not setting an “arbitrary” target or timetable, and that a welfare reform white paper will be published early next year. The Milburn and Timms reviews into youth employment and disability benefits are also due to report.

The arguments for and against

Supporters of the plan say the benefits bill is unaffordable, that too many people are signed off sick, and that money spent on welfare should go to defence and lower taxes. Critics, including disability groups and opposition politicians, argue that cutting support for people with mental health conditions risks pushing vulnerable people into poverty and could cost more elsewhere in public services.