John Healey vowed to cut welfare spending before the next election after delivering his first Budget on Wednesday. He promised to set out reforms by the end of the year. "This system is unsustainable. I've been clear about that," he said. The Chancellor faces pressure over rising national benefits costs.

Chancellor promises to set out plans to bring down 'unsustainable' bill by end of the year after delivering first Budget

John Healey has vowed to cut welfare spending before the next election, as he hit back at criticism that his maiden Budget had failed to tackle what the Tories called the "out of control" benefits bill.

Healey promised to set out reforms to "bring down the welfare bill" before the end of the year, as he began a series of broadcast interviews on Thursday.

The UK's fiscal watchdog forecast benefits spending would rise by an average of £16bn every year until 2031-32, driven by the rising cost of sickness support and pensions.

"This system is unsustainable. I've been clear about that," Healey told the BBC.

Asked if the bill would start to come down in this parliament, he said: "There will be a reduction in the benefits bill, we'll do that in a Labour way."

At the Budget's heart was a £100 direct payment to 80 per cent of households to help with energy bills this winter, funded partly by taxes on banks, savers, property owners and gambling firms.

Healey celebrated his Budget on Wednesday night by pouring and then downing with one gulp a pint of Chancellor's Choice at the Two Chairmen pub in Westminster, surrounded by cheering officials.

But he will spend Thursday answering questions about whether his low-key Budget rose to the challenge of the problems facing Britain, as economists start to pore over the details emerging from his one-hour statement.

Kemi Badenoch, Conservative leader, attacked the Budget for failing to get a grip on an "out of control welfare system".

Healey insisted that he was doing his best to help voters struggling with rising bills against what the Office for Budget Responsibility said was a "grim" backdrop of almost stagnant living standards since Covid.