Britain's finance minister, Rachel Reeves, confirmed that the Labour government would cut welfare spending by 4.8 billion pounds over the next five years.
“The responsible choice is to reduce our levels of debt and borrowing in the years ahead so we can spend more on the priorities of working people,” Reeves said, addressing lawmakers in Parliament.
Reeves said the cuts would boost measures to get people back to work and laid out plans to bring forward investment spending, crack down on tax avoidance, and raise revenues for the treasury.
The government’s impact statement said that one in 10 people of working age were now claiming sickness or disability benefits.
Many have spoken out against the change, including Citizens' Advice chief executive Clare Moriarty.
"These looming benefit cuts will drive even more people into poverty, not lift them up," she said.
Reeves also said defence spending would increase 2.5% of GDP with reductions in overseas aid, citing that “we are living in an uncertain world”.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted that 2025 GDP growth will halve from October 2024’s 2% to 1%. The assessment also said that Reeves would have missed her goal of balancing the nation's books in 2029/30 by 4.1 billion pounds without action.
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