Key facts
- Conservatives plan to make spending cuts beyond the previously pledged £47bn.
- Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith indicated further savings are needed due to economic deterioration and tax cut ambitions.
- Kemi Badenoch previously outlined £47bn in cuts, including welfare, civil service jobs, clean energy schemes, and international aid.
- Badenoch promised an additional £4bn in reductions, including a £2.5bn cut to the aid budget.
- Half of the new savings will fund 50,000 prison places, the other half to reduce the deficit.
The Conservative Party is planning to implement spending cuts that go beyond the £47 billion previously announced, according to leaked comments by shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith. Griffith stated that further savings would be necessary due to the deteriorating economy and the party's ambition to cut taxes.
Griffith, speaking to Conservative members, indicated that discussions within the shadow cabinet had focused on making additional cuts across "every part of government." These comments suggest a scale of cuts potentially similar to those seen during the austerity years.
A Conservative spokesperson confirmed the party's commitment to a smaller state and fewer government functions, promising further savings and a crackdown on wasteful spending. Kemi Badenoch, the party leader, had previously outlined plans for £47 billion in cuts, primarily targeting welfare spending for non-British or EU citizens, reducing civil service jobs, scaling back clean energy schemes, and cutting international aid.
Badenoch also recently promised an additional £4 billion in spending reductions, including a significant cut to the aid budget, leaving it at £1 billion. She stated that half of these new savings would be used to fund 50,000 additional prison places, with the remainder allocated to deficit reduction.