UK welfare budget could be cut to pave way for tax cuts, says Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt said 100,000 people a year were moving into benefits ‘without any obligation to look for work’. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

The UK’s welfare budget could be cut to pave the way for Tory tax cuts, the chancellor has said before the party’s annual conference in Manchester.

Though Jeremy Hunt said the government was “not in a position” to contemplate a decrease in tax immediately, he said the welfare budget could be hit further down the line to foot the bill.