Watch: Starmer refuses to rule out further benefit cuts after Trump’s tariffs

Starmer refuses to rule out further benefit cuts after Trump's tariffsSource: PA

Transcript

00:00I've got Archie from The Independent.

00:02Economists have warned that Trump's tariffs are going to

00:04wipe out economic growth and wipe out the fiscal headroom

00:07that the chancellor built up in the spring statement.

00:10Can you guarantee now that in the autumn budget,

00:12you're not going to have to come back to benefit claimants

00:14to balance the books?

00:15Well, the autumn budget is a long way off,

00:19and there's a lot of water under that

00:21that'll have to go under the bridge before then.

00:23Obviously, my job, our job, the government's job,

00:27is to take the steps necessary in our national interest,

00:30which is why we're focusing on progressing the deal

00:33that we've been discussing with the US,

00:35making sure that we are in a position to take other measures

00:38should they be necessary, but at the same time,

00:42continuing and turbocharging the work we're doing

00:46on growth and reform and changing our economy.

00:50And an example of that is what we've been doing on planning

00:52led by the deputy prime minister,

00:54which was scored by the OBR as the single biggest scored factor

01:01when we had the spring statement last week.

01:03So I'm not going to get into what may or may not happen

01:05in six months' time.

01:07My job is to make sure that we're in the best possible position

01:09as we go through the challenge,

01:11and it's undoubtedly a challenge,

01:12of tariffs that were imposed by the United States.