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Rishi Sunak says Brits 'don't have to worry' about Tories cutting disability benefits if he wins election
19 June 2024, 08:51
Sunak tells LBC that Brits don't have to worry about him cutting disability benefits
The Prime Minister has said Brits "don't have to worry" about his government taking away disability benefits if he wins the General Election.
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Rishi Sunak insisted voters "don't have to worry" about the Tories removing disability benefits amid questions about which parts of the welfare bill would be cut under his party.
The question comes after Mr Sunak pledged a major shake-up of the welfare state as the Conservatives pledged to bring down Britain's benefits bill.
During an LBC phone-in with LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the Prime Minister was told by a woman named Amanda: "Mr Sunak spoke about working people, well actually I claim PIP (personal independence payments) and from what I can gather that is going to be taken away from us."
He replied: "Amanda, you don't have to worry about that at all and anyone listening should be reassured, when people who actually need help and support of course they will get it, that's what I believe that's what I did as chancellor."
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But he said there had been a "massive rise in the welfare bill since the pandemic with almost a million extra people of working age claiming ill health benefits".
"That's not right, that's not sustainable and I want to make sure we put our welfare bill on a more sustainable trajectory," he said.
Read more: Tories pledge to cut rising welfare bills with NHS cash boost and disability benefits reform
The policy commitment from the Tories aims to save some £12 billion a year by the end of the next parliament.
The party says it will achieve this by ensuring more working age people currently claiming benefits have a job.
The Conservatives want to bring down the number of working age people out of work - which has spiked since the Covid pandemic.
Experts believe that this rise was in part driven by those who have taken early retirement and people suffering from long-term health issues who are waiting for treatment on the NHS.
But the Conservative Party said the 40% increase in economically inactive people from two million to 2.8 million overall since the pandemic is unsustainable.
