“Every meeting the Welfare Secretary has focuses on identifying people to tax to fund benefits for others.”

The claim attributes a quote to the Welfare Secretary (Pat McFadden): "Every meeting I have is: 'Who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?'" This quote was made public through the release of the "Mandelson files" — private messages between McFadden and Lord Mandelson released as part of documents related to Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador. The quote is genuine. Multiple sources (BBC, City AM, GB News, The Standard) confirm McFadden wrote: "Every meeting I have is 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others'. They're asking the wrong questions." McFadden himself subsequently stood by the remarks, telling City AM: "I don't think there's any surprise in those texts about my views on things" and telling GB News he had been saying similar things "both in private and in public." However, several important qualifications are missing or distorted: 1. McFadden was criticizing, not endorsing, this dynamic. The full quote includes "They're asking the wrong questions." McFadden's point was that the welfare system was focused on the wrong question (who to tax to pay benefits) rather than the right question (how to help people change their lives through work and opportunity). Badenoch frames it as "what the Government will not dare say in public" — implying a hidden admission — when McFadden was actually arguing against this approach. 2. McFadden was not Welfare Secretary when he said this. The messages were sent in mid-2025, when McFadden was serving in the Cabinet Office as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He became Work and Pensions Secretary later. Badenoch's framing — "The Welfare Secretary said in private" — implies he said this in his current capacity. 3. Badenoch's paraphrase slightly alters the quote. She says "every meeting I have with Labour MPs is about who we can tax so we can pay more benefits." The original does not specify "with Labour MPs" (though context implies it) and says "pay benefits to others" not "pay more benefits." The core factual assertion — that McFadden said something very close to this quote — is accurate and the quote is verified. But the way it is presented materially misleads: McFadden was expressing frustration and arguing for reform, not making a candid admission of government policy, and he was not in the welfare role at the time. Sources: - BBC News, "Key messages between Mandelson and ministers" — https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g819dml28o - BBC News, "Badenoch accuses Starmer of 'giving up' on welfare reform" — https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgep3r9yg34o - City AM, "McFadden not apologised to Reeves over 'tax to pay benefits' text" — https://www.cityam.com/pat-mcfadden-i-have-not-apologised-to-rachel-reeves-over-tax-to-pay-benefits-text/ - GB News, "Pat McFadden addresses awkward Peter Mandelson messages" — https://www.gbnews.com/politics/pat-mcfadden-peter-mandelson-benefits-messages - The Standard, "Keir Starmer grilled on welfare after Pat McFadden complaint in Mandelson files" — https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/pat-mcfadden-keir-starmer-kemi-badenoch-peter-mandelson-mps-b1284673.html