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Benefits: No easy answers, says new Welsh secretary

BBC David TC DaviesBBC
David TC says Rishi Sunak's understands the hardship people are going through

There are no easy answers to increase benefits during the cost of living crisis, the new Welsh secretary has said.

Following calls for welfare to rise with inflation, David TC Davies said the UK government wanted to be "as generous as possible".

But there were limits to how much funding could be raised from borrowing and tax rises, he said.

The Monmouth MP was promoted to the cabinet in a reshuffle on Tuesday.

He told BBC Wales Rishi Sunak's government "understands the hardship that people are going through at the moment, but particularly those on benefits".

"The question is not what would people in government like to do because clearly we would like to be as generous as we possibly can."

The government "seems to have reached the limits of what we can practically do with borrowing money", while a tax hike for individuals and businesses "comes with its own problems", he said.

"Everyone in government wants to help the least well off but it's a case of what can we actually afford to do without having further impacts on other people."

He added: "I think there are lots of people who are almost deliberately trying to suggest there's an easy answer without telling us what it is."

The Welsh Conservative group in the Senedd has also called for welfare benefits to rise with prices.

Getty Images Woman with coins in hand with purse - stock photoGetty Images
There have been reports benefits such as universal credit be raised in line with average earnings rather than prices

Welsh Labour has warned that cutting spending to balance the books in Westminster will lead to another round of spending cuts, similar to the austerity measures of the last decade.

But Mr Davies said First Minister Mark Drakeford had failed to explain whether he would raise more funding through tax rises.

Welsh Government ministers said they would consider the case for income tax rises as they prepare to publish their budget in December.

Mr Davies said he wanted a "professional and constructive" relationship with Mr Drakeford.

He and the prime minister have already spoken to Mr Drakeford, unlike Liz Truss who did not talk to the first minister during her seven weeks in Number 10.

He also defended the appointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary, saying the breach of rules that cost her the job last week was a "very trivial matter".