Chancellor must get Britain working as global outlook darkens

Responding to today’s Spring Forecast, Joe Shalam, policy director at the Centre for Social Justice, said:

“The Government wanted this spring forecast to be a non event. But as the global outlook darkens, business as usual is clearly not enough.

“Instead, ministers must now do everything they can to get Britain working and the economy fired up by ending the scandal of millions trapped on welfare.

“We already spend more on health benefits than the entire defence budget in what is a monumental waste of human potential. Repairing broken Britain is ultimately a matter of national security in a fast changing world.”

Notes to Editors

• A CSJ spokesperson is available for interview.
• The UK Ministry of Defence budget for the financial year 2024 to 2025 was £60.2 billion (MOD, 2026), compared to £70.9 billion on disability and incapacity benefits (DWP, 2026).
• There are now 4.2 million individuals receiving Universal Credit with no requirement to seek or prepare for work. Almost 3.4 million are claiming PIP or its predecessor Disability Living Allowance, up by 1.1 million since 2020 to 2021 and forecast to increase by a further 1.1 million by 2030 to 2031.
• Between 2020 to 2021 and 2024 to 2025, real terms expenditure on PIP for people with anxiety and depression rose by 106 per cent according to Department for Work and Pensions figures released last month (DWP, 2026).
• The CSJ has called for ministers to target mental health benefits to more severe cases, saving £7 billion to invest £1 billion expanding NHS talking therapies and back to work support (CSJ, Wasted Youth, 2025).