Rishi Sunak has indicated that benefits and pensions will go up by inflation in tomorrow’s autumn statement.
The prime minister said “fairness and compassion” will be at the heart of the government’s plans to fix the UK economy.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will unveil plans to slash public spending by £35 billion and hike taxes by £25 billion to fill a £55 billion black hole in the government;’s finances.
But speaking at the G20 summit in Bali, Sunak gave his strongest hint yet that benefits and pensions will be protected.
He said: “I am confident that when people see the set of decisions in the round, when the chancellor has delivered his statement, they will see that we have strived incredibly hard to deliver fairness, to deliver compassion and to put the UK on a positive economic trajectory.”
His comments came as it emerged that the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation hit 11.1% in the year to October - higher than analysts were expecting and the highest rate in 40 years.
The September CPI figure of 10.1% will be used to calculate the increase in benefits and pensions.
Sunak said inflation was “the enemy we need to face down” but insisted the decisions taken in the autumn statement will put the UK economy on a stronger footing.
He said: “The chancellor rightly described [inflation] as insidious. It makes people poorer, that’s what inflation does.
“And it’s the enemy that we need to face down.
“And I want to make sure that we do that and we do it as quickly as possible. I want to limit the increase in mortgage rates because that’s also causing anxiety for millions of homeowners across the UK.
“And given that we’re facing these global economic shocks, we are going to have to take some difficult decisions at home to protect ourselves against those, and to start getting a grip of inflation, reducing it and limiting the increase in mortgage rates.
“So that’s why we’re doing what we’re going to have to do tomorrow.”
And in a swipe at Liz Truss’s disastrous six-week premiership, the PM said that over the summer people “got a glimpse” of what can happen “if we don’t get these things right”.