“Nearly 3 million people were treated as beyond help or consideration.”

The claim paraphrases Starmer's words "Nearly 3 million people were written off" as "Nearly 3 million people were treated as beyond help or consideration." The term "written off" in welfare contexts typically refers to people placed in the LCWRA (Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity) group or ESA Support Group — those with no requirement to look for or prepare for work. According to DWP's own decomposition analysis, the total ESA Support Group / UC LCWRA caseload was approximately 2.4–2.5 million in 2023–24, having grown from about 1.6 million in 2018. This is the group most directly corresponding to being "written off" from work requirements, and it falls short of 3 million. However, broader measures do approach or exceed 3 million. The ONS/Resolution Foundation reported that the number of working-age adults economically inactive due to long-term sickness peaked at about 2.8 million in late 2023, and the IPPR noted that long-term and short-term illness combined pushed the figure past 3 million. The IFS reported 2.9 million working-age adults claiming incapacity benefits (broader than just LCWRA/ESA SG) and 3.9 million claiming either incapacity or disability benefits. The Office for Statistics Regulation has cautioned that comparisons of "signed off" numbers over time are complicated by welfare system changes and that the term requires careful definition. The trend Starmer points to is real and significant — there has been a substantial rise in people on health-related benefits and economically inactive due to sickness under the Conservatives. But the specific figure of "nearly 3 million" depends on which measure is used. The narrowest and most relevant measure (those in LCWRA/ESA Support Group, with no work requirement) was about 2.5 million, while broader measures of economic inactivity due to sickness reached approximately 2.8 million. The characterization "written off" is political rhetoric that oversimplifies a complex picture, and the figure is at the upper end of what the data supports. Sources: DWP, Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics (gov.uk); DWP, Decomposition of growth in LCWRA/ESA Support Group claimants (gov.uk); Office for Statistics Regulation, Recent Statements on disability benefits and out-of-work statistics (osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk); Resolution Foundation, "A U-shaped legacy" (resolutionfoundation.org); IPPR, Economic inactivity due to sickness (ippr.org); IFS, Health-related benefit claims post-pandemic (ifs.org.uk); OBR, Welfare trends report October 2024 (obr.uk)