Standing in for Burnham at PMQs, Louise Haigh will not rule out tax rises to fund the £353bn welfare bill
Louise Haigh, standing in as First Secretary of State at PMQs, declined to say when welfare spending — projected to reach £431bn by 2031-32 — would start falling.
Louise Haigh, First Secretary of State, refused on four separate occasions to say when the benefits bill would be cut, telling the Commons only that the government was "committed" to reducing it. Welfare spending is forecast to reach £353bn this year and surge to £431bn by 2031-32. Conservative deputy leader Alex Burghart repeatedly pressed her on the issue, warning Labour "doesn't have the bottle" to act.
Burghart noted that working-age benefits alone stand at £183bn — a figure that eclipses the combined budgets for defence, schools and policing.
Haigh also stopped short of guaranteeing that taxes would not be raised to meet the rising bill, arguing the government must "invest in success".
Burnham was absent because he is in Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, making this Haigh's first PMQs outing as stand-in.
