Keir Starmer says cutting benefits for most vulnerable 'is not going to work' and is 'not Labour thing to do'

**Ed Balls**, the former Labour shadow chancellor, has said the government would be wrong to cut disability benefits for the most vulnerable people in society.

He was speaking in the latest episode of , the podcast he co-hosts with **George Osborne**, the former Tory chancellor, who said that when he was at the Treasury he ruled out freezing Pip (the personal independence payment – a disability benefit) because he thought that was not very fair.

Next week the government is due to announce major cuts to sickness and disability benefits. The details have not been announced, but one ITV News report last week said the Treasury wants to save up to £6bn by freezing the level at which Pip is paid (instead of uprating it in line with inflation, which normally happens with benefits), and making it harder to claim. The government wants to get more people off benefits and into work, but ITV said “even those with extreme disabilities in the unfit to work category are likely to lose money”.

**Balls** said:

> "It’s one thing to say the economy is not doing well and we’ve got a fiscal challenge … but cutting the benefits of the most vulnerable in our society who can’t work to pay for that - is not going to work. And it’s not a Labour thing to do … It’s not what they’re for."

**Balls** was a major figure in the Blair/Brown government, as Gordon Brown’s chief adviser and then as a cabinet minister. But he lost his seat as an MP in 2015 and he now works as a TV presenter and podcaster. He is married to Yvette Cooper, the current home secretary.

In the same episode **Osborne** implied that, if Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, does decide to freeze Pip, she will be acting even more harshly than he did. He said:

> "I didn’t freeze Pip. I thought  would not be regarded as very fair."

**Osborne** said he did try to cut eligibility for Pip in his 2016 budget, hoping to save £4bn, “which I guess, adjusting for inflation, is roughly what  is looking for now”. But Iain Duncan Smith, the then welfare secretary, resigned in protest, “and I had to back down”, Osborne said.

**Alexander Campbell** has more on what Starmer said on Ukraine in his Europe live blog, which today is largely focused on the Ukraine story.

**Alexander Campbell** has more on what Starmer said on Ukraine in his Europe live blog, which today is largely focused on the Ukraine story.

**Alexander Campbell** has more on what Starmer said on Ukraine in his Europe live blog, which today is largely focused on the Ukraine story.

**Alexander Campbell** has more on what Starmer said on Ukraine in his Europe live blog, which today is largely focused on the Ukraine story.

**Alexander Campbell** has more on what Starmer said on Ukraine in his Europe live blog, which today is largely focused on the Ukraine story.

**Alexander Campbell** has more on what Starmer said on Ukraine in his Europe live blog, which today is largely focused on the Ukraine story.

**Alexander Campbell** has more on what Starmer said on Ukraine in his Europe live blog, which today is largely focused on the Ukraine story.

**Alexander Campbell** has more on what Starmer said on Ukraine in his Europe live blog, which today is largely focused on the Ukraine story.
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