Another day, another Tory rebellion. Liz Truss needs to think of ways to constrain spending and tough decisions lie ahead. One option is to increase benefits in line with average salaries (6.2 per cent), rather than CPI inflation (9.9 per cent). Her aides are preparing the argument. Why should someone on welfare see their income rise faster than someone in work? And with public sector wages rising at just 2 per cent, can government really give a near-10 per cent rise to those on benefits – while saying that there’s not enough money to do the same for nurses, teachers etc?
Those around the PM think that, unlike the 45p tax rate cut, this is a tough-love, fiscal-responsibility battle that can be won. ‘We have to look at these issues in the round,’ said the Prime Minister on the BBC Radio 4 interview broadcast this morning, ‘We have to be fiscally responsible.’
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