Andy Burnham to make it harder for people to claim benefits as he vows to ‘get serious’ about cutting welfare bill

Andy Burnham will seek to toughen up the benefits bill in a move that could provoke the anger of Labor MPs who were instrumental in replacing him with Sir Keir Starmer.

Andy Burnham has admitted to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the country’s welfare bill should be cut in his first major interview since becoming prime minister.

It also made clear that certain benefits, including mental health support, going forward would become “conditional” on people going to work and not staying at home.

Interview to BBC Panorama The show also saw him warn that unless there is “significant change” to the social care system, the NHS will collapse as it tries to resolve a crisis that has dogged British politics for decades.

With major changes coming, Mr Burnham had already made it clear in clips of the interview published on Sunday that he would not seek a new role with an early election. He also insisted he would call out Donald Trump “when it is in the UK’s national interest” and is seeking to raise up to £13bn of cash needed to meet the UK’s 3 per cent of GDP target for defence.

But money-strapped Mr Burnham has made clear that he, like his predecessor Sir Keir, intends to cut welfare spending.

The issue led to Sir Keir losing his authority as prime minister after he was forced to withdraw plans to cut welfare by £5bn a year following a major backbencher rebellion.

Asked about welfare reform, Mr Burnham did not hide from the need to drop the bill.

He said: Your goal is the welfare bill. “I think we need to be really serious as a country about dropping the welfare bill.”

Mr Burnham kept Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden in place despite messages between himself and former Labor colleague Peter Mandelson revealing Mr McFadden had complained about Labor MPs.

Mr. McFadden told Mandelson: “Every meeting I have is about ‘who can we tax to benefit others?’ They’re asking the wrong questions.”

It was a sign of Mr. Burnham’s intent that he remained in office while 11 other cabinet ministers were sacked.

Outlining his approach, Mr Burnham explained: “It’s about changing the nature of support and making some of it contingent on people taking advantage of the opportunities that are available to them, so you can increase the conditions for getting benefits.

“I think it is a good thing that the government guarantees opportunities for young people.

“And I think we need to continue that approach and where mental health support is needed, for example in the workplace, support is provided when people are given the opportunity.”

But Mr Burnham sought to change Sir Keir’s tone by stressing that he did not want to penalize welfare recipients.

“I wouldn’t want to blame those people directly. There are people in the benefits system, young people in their 20s, who are quite severely let down because the support wasn’t there when it should have been,” he said.

“So I don’t blame them. I think the support isn’t there like it should be.”

Backbench welfare rebels such as Richard Burgon, Rachael Maskell, Clive Lewis and Kim Johnson were cheerleaders for Mr Burnham’s bid to become prime minister, and he will have to bring the left wing of the party along with him on any reforms.

But in the interview he also wanted to focus on fixing social care, one of his biggest priorities.

Mr Burnham said: “If we don’t do this the NHS will collapse under the weight of trying to care for people who don’t actually need to be part of the NHS system.”

But when asked if he would create a new system before the next election, he said he “can’t put a timeline on it right now” but would use “whatever political capital I have” to fix it.

Mr Burnham first proposed a universal social care system in Britain in 2009 when he was health secretary under Gordon Brown, but hopes of reaching cross-party consensus were dashed when the Conservatives accused him of wanting a ‘death tax’.

The full interview is on BBC Panorama ‘Andy Burnham: The Laura Kuenssberg Interview’ at 6am on Monday 27 July and on iPlayer on BBC One.