UK chancellor pledges welfare cuts while dressing them up as “Labour” reform
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Chancellor John Healey said the benefits bill will be cut before the next election, casting the move as a “Labour way” of tightening support while the government pairs limited household relief with higher taxes on banks and landlords; the Office for Budget Responsibility warned welfare spending could climb sharply.
Chancellor John Healey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the government will reduce the overall welfare bill before the next election, presenting the current system as “unsustainable” and framing cuts as a “Labour way” of doing things. He said the reduction will depend on young people accepting job and training offers, following recommendations from the Milburn review of youth and work and the Timms review of disability benefits.
In the budget presented on Wednesday, the Treasury announced measures aimed at easing household costs, including a £100 discount on energy bills for up to 20 million households in council tax bands A to D and the removal of standing charges on gas. Healey said these measures were being paid for through higher taxes on banks and landlords.
The Office for Budget Responsibility projected total welfare spending to rise from £334 billion last year to £431 billion by 2030, with roughly half of the increase going to pensions and a quarter to sickness and disability benefits.
“We have to bring the benefits bill down,” Healey said on BBC Radio 4. “There will be a reduction in the benefits bill. We’ll do that in a Labour way and we will do that because it is simply not good for Britain or progress to have a bigger and bigger benefits bill,” he added.
The Resolution Foundation, an economic think-tank, said the budget fell short of what the country needs. Chief executive Ruth Curtice said the support for households was “spread far too thinly” and warned that typical annual energy bills could still exceed £1,700 after the government’s assistance.
Healey also commented on international issues, saying that peace in the Middle East and Ukraine would be the best outcome for UK economic policy. He noted that President Trump could help bring conflicting parties together and said the British government was working toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine.