Freeze state pensions and slash ‘non-frontline’ NHS and schools staff, said No 10’s economic adviser

Matthew Sinclair’s book backed a one-year freeze in basic state pension and the minimum income guarantee. Photograph: Twitter

Liz Truss’s top economic adviser suggested freezing the state pension, halving the government’s publicity budget and slashing “non-frontline” staff in health and schools by 10%, as part of a manifesto designed to win an election while also cutting spending.

Matthew Sinclair, the former chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, edited a book by the small-state pressure group that called for a series of radical cuts, including the scrapping of the Prevent programme designed to tackle extremism.