Prime Minister Andy Burnham has indicated he may tighten the rules for claiming benefits, warning the UK must “get serious” about reducing the welfare bill, which is projected to hit around £323 billion for the 2025-26 financial year.
Benefits conditions
In his first major interview since entering Downing Street, Mr Burnham told the BBC he might “increase the conditions on people required to receive benefits”. He said: “There are people out there who with the right support can go into work.”
“It's about changing the nature of the support and making some of the support conditional upon people taking opportunities that are presented in front of them. So you might increase the conditions required to receive benefits,” he added.
Not blaming claimants
The Prime Minister insisted he would not go “straight to blaming” people on benefits, noting that many young people in their twenties had been “quite seriously let down because the support wasn't there for them when it should have been there”.
His comments come after a major Labour backbench rebellion over welfare cuts to disability and sickness benefits under Sir Keir Starmer.
Social care reform
Mr Burnham also said he would not want to leave office without bringing “substantial change” to the social care system. He warned: “If we don't do it the NHS will collapse under the weight of trying to care for people who've really not needed to end up in the NHS system.”
Pressed on a timeline, he said he “couldn't put a timeline on it right here, right now”, but would put “whatever political capital I have” into fixing it. The former Greater Manchester mayor first proposed a universal social care system in England in 2009 when he was health secretary under Gordon Brown.
Axel and Larry
Asked whether his dog Axel would move into Number 10, Mr Burnham said the crossbreed would “stay up north” because he would not get on with Larry the Cat. Describing Axel, he said: “He's got that angry little man thing going on.”
“I don't think the nation would thank me if I brought Axel down to disturb Larry's world. These are the big decisions,” he added. “The big decisions they've been made.”
