Liz Truss has refused to confirm whether benefits will be uprated in line with soaring inflation, meaning some of the poorest could face a real-term cut to their income.
The prime minister faces a new battle with her MPs on welfare, with two former work and pensions secretaries saying it would be wrong to renege on Boris Johnson’s pledge of an inflation-matching rise.
Ms Truss, speaking on the Today programme this morning, said she is “committed to supporting the most vulnerable” but “we have to be fiscally responsible”.
She also said that “this is the right time to take on some extra borrowing because of a very, very severe international situation that we face.”
It comes as the pound rebounded today to an almost two-week high after the government U-turned on key parts of their controversial tax cuts plan.
Sterling rose to $1.1343, a bounce of about 10 per cent from the record low against the dollar it hit last week, as plans for unfunded tax cuts unleashed chaos on British assets.
