UK Prime Minister warns welfare cuts could increase crime and strain services

The prime minister told ITV that cutting welfare benefits could force people into crime and create additional pressure on the criminal-justice system and the National Health Service. He warned that "if you just go to brutal cuts, you will leave people in absolute crisis and then they will be going into other services in a chaotic way".

Conservative work and pensions secretary Kemi Badenoch said the party intends to reduce the benefits bill by ending payments to foreign nationals and limiting claims for low-level mental-health conditions. The government has not disclosed a specific target for overall welfare savings, saying it will focus on expanding employment support rather than a "cuts agenda".

Labour leader Andy Burnham criticised the Conservative proposal, arguing that a £36 billion reduction would increase demand on police and hospitals. Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately accused the opposition of defending a "bloated benefits bill" and suggested Labour would rely on higher taxes to fund benefits.

The Treasury faces a projected £100 billion annual benefits cost by the early 2030s, driven in part by rising sickness claims. Two government reviews – one on youth unemployment and another on the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system – are due later this month. The former, led by former health secretary Alan Milburn, is expected to recommend increased funding for employment programmes, while the latter, overseen by social security minister Sir Stephen Timms, will examine reforms to PIP but is not mandated to identify savings.