UK Deputy Minister Louise Haigh faced pressure in Parliament on Wednesday as she repeatedly declined to commit to specific timelines for reducing the national benefits bill before the next general election. Haigh, filling in for the Prime Minister who was attending a summit, was pressed by Conservative frontbencher Alex Burghart.
Burghart challenged the government's approach, characterizing it as "more tax, more welfare and more borrowing." He stated that the current figure for working-age welfare spending is \£183 billion, which he claimed is the highest on record and exceeds the combined spending on defense, schools, and policing.
Haigh maintained that the government has been "clear the benefit bill will come down" and that steps are already being taken to achieve this. However, she resisted providing a firm date, accusing Burghart of repeating the same question.
The debate follows recent confusion surrounding the government's stance on welfare spending. Earlier in the week, Chancellor John Healey reportedly suggested in a BBC interview that welfare costs would be reduced before the next general election. This was subsequently met with backtracking from Treasury aides and statements from Downing Street indicating no firm deadline for cuts and that "brutal cuts" were not planned.
By Friday evening, Healey appeared to revise his position in an interview with Channel 4 News, stating it was "not correct to say that we're going to bring this welfare bill down in this Parliament." Speaking on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg program, Healey attributed the confusion to media misinterpretation, asserting that he had "never set out the timetable for savings" but reaffirmed that "the overall bill will come down under Labour."