Truss must raise benefits in line with inflation, Javid says
Liz Truss must increase benefits in line with inflation rather than earnings, the former chancellor Sajid Javid has said, as the prime minister faces increasing Conservative pressure to relent over the issue.
Victoria Prentis, the work and pensions minister, insisted no decision had been made, while seeming to hint she would prefer the more generous settlement.
Asked about how to help people on benefits while inflation is close to 10%, almost double that of the growth in earnings, Prentis told Sky News on Monday: “It’s really important that we make sure that we target the government resources at the most vulnerable.”
Javid’s intervention came a day before the Commons resumes, with the prime minister reportedly ready to launch a charm offensive to improve relations with her MPs following a notably fractious first few weeks in office and a turbulent Conservative conference.
Truss is expected to potentially bow to pressure for the inflation-based increase in benefits, with new research saying the real-terms reduction from an earnings-based rise could push an extra 450,000 people into poverty.
Interviewed by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, primarily to talk about mental health and the suicide in 2018 of his older brother, Tariq, Javid was asked whether he believed benefits should rise according to the inflation rate.
“People are going through incredibly challenging times,” Javid said. “We can all see that in our communities. So I personally believe that benefits must stay in line with inflation. The government is reviewing its decision, but I hope that decision is a clear one, so the upgrade is with inflation.”
Javid, who was the chancellor as well as the health secretary at different times under Boris Johnson, having
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