Friday 14 October 2022 11:34 PM Liz Truss is set to back down over plans to squeeze benefits payments to calm ... trends now
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Liz Truss is poised to back down on plans to squeeze benefit payments as she tries to calm her warring MPs.
The Prime Minister hinted yesterday that real-terms spending cuts were on the way in the 'medium-term fiscal plan' due on October 31, saying: 'Spending will grow less rapidly than previously planned.'
But Government sources suggested the plan to raise benefits in line with earnings rather than inflation would be scaled back.
Asked directly whether the squeeze – worth up to £7 billion – would go ahead, a source said: 'The decision to raise corporation tax means the worst pressures have come off and we will be able to avoid some of the more extreme stuff.'
Miss Truss believed the benefits squeeze was 'defensible', arguing it was not fair to ask working people receiving an average 5.5 per cent pay rise to fund a 10 per cent hike for people on benefits.
Liz Truss is poised to back down on plans to squeeze benefit payments as she tries to calm her warring MPs
Miss Truss believed the benefits squeeze was 'defensible', arguing it was not fair to ask working people receiving an average 5.5 per cent pay rise to fund a 10 per cent hike for people on benefits
But the plan triggered a backlash from some Tories, including Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt, who said