Haigh and Burghart trade welfare figures at PMQs in Burnham’s absence
With the prime minister in Antigua, Louise Haigh took her first Prime Minister’s Questions against the Conservatives’ deputy leader, Alex Burghart, who pressed her on working-age welfare spending; when she declined to give a figure he put it at £183bn. Ms Haigh countered that welfare spending had risen by £88bn in a decade under the Conservatives. Mr Burghart also claimed the Office for Budget Responsibility had said 215,000 jobs were at risk from the Budget’s tax rises.
The Guardian’s verdict was that both “performed well — in exchanges likely to be quickly forgotten”: Mr Burghart, who has done PMQs before, was “a bit more polished”, while Ms Haigh “swerved” the question of when Labour will cut the benefits bill with attacks on the Conservative record. The paper judged that “if anyone had a bad PMQs, it was probably Lindsay Hoyle”, arguing that the first secretary of state “seemed perfectly capable of coping with a bit of heckling”. Munira Wilson of the Liberal Democrats said Richmond council faces cuts of more than £100m over four years, 60% of its budget; Ms Haigh said the government had inherited an unfair council funding system. Asked about online scams, she said the Online Safety Act requires technology companies to take robust action. The session underlined that the government does not have a firm answer yet on when it will cut welfare spending, a question that will return when Mr Burnham is back at the despatch box, and one the Conservatives intend to keep asking.