Sebastian Payne

Liz Kendall offers tentative support for cutting benefits for EU migrants

Liz Kendall’s turn on the Andrew Marr sofa was slightly shaky and vague on details. She continued on the theme of being the ‘change everything’ candidate but failed on clarify what she would do differently to the Tories and her fellow leadership candidates. When asked by Marr if she was the candidate Yvette Cooper suggested had ‘swallowed’ the Tory manifesto, Kendall noted the level of change Labour needs:

‘The only thing I’ve swallowed is the sheer scale of the defeat that we faced at the election and the huge changes we need to win again. People didn’t trust us with their money or on the economy and we didn’t set out a positive enough vision for the country that everyone could feel apart of.’

Marr also probed Kendall on whether she supports the government’s welfare reforms. She admitted that ‘we need to reform welfare’ but failed to offer any more specifics:

‘Let’s see what the Conservatives come out with in their budget. I’m not going to provide a budget response to a budget that’s not even been delivered.

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