Mary Lawes Reform

18/08/2026

18/08/2026

WHERE YOUR TAX GOES — THE REAL NUMBERS (2026–27)

£11,000 per SECOND — every second — on welfare alone.

Source: GOV.UK | Total Budget : £1.416 TRILLION

THE BIGGEST SLICE BY FAR

Welfare & Pensions — £400 BILLION → 28.3%
That's nearly £1 in every £3 the government spends — MORE than Health + Education combined.

THE STAGGERING TRUTHS

✅ Welfare/Pensions alone costs more than Health, Education, Defence & Transport — ALL PUT TOGETHER
✅ Debt interest £135bn — nearly £1 in every £10 spent just paying off past borrowing
✅ Welfare bill bigger than the entire Defence budget FOUR TIMES OVER

REFORM UK'S PLAN IN CONTEXT

Reform says SLASH THE WELFARE BILL — and these numbers show exactly why:
The welfare budget is £400 BILLION — the single biggest line item by miles.

✅ No benefits for non-citizens
✅ Support only for the truly vulnerable
✅ Work for your benefits if fit to work

Labour & Tories have let this bill balloon to £400bn.

FULL SPENDING BREAKDOWN

1. 🟦 Welfare & Pensions: £400bn — 28.3% ← Reform's target is to reduce this by £50bn
2. 🏥 Health: £294bn — 20.8%
3. 🎓 Education: £145bn — 10.2%
4. 💷 Debt Interest: £135bn — 9.5% ⬅️ We pay more in Debt Interest than Defence!
5. 🪖 Defence: £90bn — 6.4%
6. 🚆 Transport: £69bn — 4.9%
7. 👮 Public Order & Safety: £62bn — 4.4%
8. 🏭 Industry/Agriculture: £56bn — 3.9%
9. 🏘️ Social Services: £54bn — 3.8%
10. 🏠 Housing & Env: £51bn — 3.6%
(Everything else balances to 3.2%)


Source: GOV.UK — 2026–27 Budget

18/08/2026

Good. 👇

Why should hard working British taxpayers pay for them❓

17/08/2026

From today, the HMO loophole in County Durham is closed.

And let’s be clear why this matters.

Home Office contractors procuring asylum accommodation have been able to use smaller shared properties that can fall below mandatory HMO licensing thresholds and, until now, could also be converted without a planning application.

That changes today.

Our Article 4 Direction means new small HMOs will normally have to come through the planning system. Residents can see what is proposed, scrutinise it and object.

Central government should not be able to impose housing decisions on communities while keeping those communities in the dark.

Reform in County Durham will insist on proper scrutiny, local accountability and the strongest planning controls available to us.