Burnham insists he wants to reduce welfare bill but will not put a number on it

Making “brutal cuts” to welfare spending without thinking about the wider consequences is not the right way to address the ballooning benefits bill, the Prime Minister has said.Andy Burnham insisted he would “stick to my guns” on his approach to benefits, as he refused to put a number on how much he wanted to see the cost of welfare fall.Chancellor John Healey found himself under the spotlight in the wake of the Budget for appearing to suggest that Labour would bring down the benefits bill ahead of a general election.Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey suggested that Labour would bring down the benefits bill ahead of a general election, something Treasury officials later backtracked on (Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA)PA WireTreasury officials later backtracked on his remarks and refused to put a timeline on the commitment, but several Government figures lined up to insist that Labour was serious about cutting the rising cost of welfare.The Prime Minister faced scrutiny about reducing the benefits bill in an interview with ITV News for a programme marking his first 100 days in office.Asked how much he wanted to see the cost of welfare fall by, Mr Burnham told the broadcaster: “I come at it a different way. I want to talk about how many people am I going to help into work? If you go at it with a number like you’ve just said, I think this is exactly what I was saying before about politics done the wrong way.“And the changes I’m trying to bring, they’ve done that before: ‘Oh, we need to cut this amount’. And then straight away it’s into a kind of a cuts agenda without really thinking through how do you help people from where they are to a better position.”He added: “If you come at it through that normal Westminster mindset of saying ‘we must cut x amount from the system’, well, it will fail again. And that’s what we’ve seen in politics in recent times.”The Prime Minister said he was pioneering ‘radical changes’ to the way young people are supported into work (Russell Cheyne/PA)PA WireThe Prime Minister said he “of course” wanted to see welfare spending fall, and suggested the Conservative target of cutting the cost by £36 billion a year meant the opposition was “putting a number before people”.“I will say to you, if they were to do that, there’d be another big number over here for the utter chaos that they cause in people’s lives,” he added.Mr Burnham said he was pioneering “radical changes” to the way young people are supported into the world of work.“They’re in a school system that is overly focused on the university route and doesn’t give a pass for young people who want to move towards work and get technical qualifications,” he said.The Prime Minister: “We have an approach that doesn’t support people when they need it and then pays billions to sustain them in an unproductive position.Read More“That is the radical change that we need. And that’s how you make the saving. You don’t make the saving just to go to brutal cuts, because if you just go to brutal cuts… you will leave people in absolute crisis and then they will be going into other services in a chaotic way.“So, I’m pioneering a different approach and I’m going to stick to my guns on it. I’m going to stick to my guns on everything that I believe as Prime Minister.”Former health secretary Alan Milburn is leading a review into how to get more young people into work, training and education (Jeff Moore/PA)PA WireWelfare spending is forecast to rise by £19 billion over this year to £353 billion.The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts it will rise to £431 billion by the 2031-32 financial year, largely driven by health-related and pensioner benefits.Ministers are awaiting the outcome of two reviews into aspects of the welfare system before they commit to sweeping changes aimed at reducing its costs.The Timms review, led by work and pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms, is investigating what changes could be made to the personal independence payment, the main disability benefit.The Milburn review, led by Blair-era former minister Alan Milburn, is meanwhile looking at how to get more young people into work, training or education.Andy Burnham said he has spoken with his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer and former chancellor Rachel Reeves (Stefan Rousseau/PA)PA WireElsewhere in the ITV interview, the Prime Minister revealed he has spoken to his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer, and former chancellor Rachel Reeves, since he assumed power.“We’ve exchanged messages and we’ve always had a good working relationship. We obviously had differences at times, for certain. But, yeah, I do keep in touch with people,” Mr Burnham said.ITV News’s programme Burnham: Inside The First 100 Days will be broadcast on Tuesday night.