World Economic Outlook: UK Growth and Inflation Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

World Economic Outlook: UK Growth and Inflation

Lord Wallace of Saltaire Excerpts
Wednesday 22nd April 2026

(1 day, 7 hours ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Wallace of Saltaire Portrait Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)
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My Lords, I declare an interest as a recipient of very considerable welfare payments in the form of my old-age pension and my wife’s old-age pension. The whole discussion about cutting welfare seems to leave out the very substantial chunk of welfare that goes to those of us who are retired. Does the Minister think that all the effort in cutting welfare has to be on the young, or does he think that any discussion about cutting welfare has to include the old as well?

Lord Livermore Portrait Lord Livermore (Lab)
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Clearly, we need a welfare system that works. No one believes that the system that we inherited is working. It abandoned too many people to a life on benefits, wrote off too many people as too sick to work and condemned too many children to be too poor to eat. That is why we are reforming the welfare system.