Spring statement will not ‘alter the basics’, PM insists when questioned on cuts

The Government will not “alter the basics” of public spending, Sir Keir Starmer has claimed, when faced with questions about whether budget cuts will be announced this week.

But the Prime Minister said he wanted to “take some money out of Government”.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver the spring statement to the Commons on Wednesday, when she is expected to announce spending cuts for some Government departments.

The fiscal tightening comes amid a backdrop of cuts the Government has already announced to the welfare bill, and to Civil Service running costs, which have caused unrest among Labour backbenchers and the unions.

Asked by BBC Radio 5 Live if cuts would be announced for departments whose spending is not protected, such as the Ministry of Justice, the Prime Minister said his Government was “looking across the board” at spending.

“At the budget last year we made some record investments, and we’re not going to undo that,” he added.

The Prime Minister pointed to investment in the NHS since Labour’s first budget in October, which he said had “just delivered five months’ worth of waiting lists coming down, five months in a row during the winter”.

He added: “So we’re not going to alter the basics, but we are going to look across and one of the areas that we will be looking at is, can we run the Government more efficiently? Can we take some money out of Government?

“And I think we can. I think we’re essentially asking businesses across the country to be more efficient, to look at AI and tech in the way that they do their business. I want the same challenge in Government, which is, why shouldn’t we be more efficient?”

The Prime Minister initially set out plans to prune the size of Civil Service when he said out his public sector reform proposals in early March.

AI and tech “could do a huge amount now that is done manually”, the Prime Minister also told the BBC.

He added: “Some of the examples I’ve been given are in the NHS – a stethoscope and AI, working together can predict pretty accurately if you’re 60 years or over, whether you’re going to have a heart problem and therefore get in early, saves a fortune for the NHS.”

He said AI could be used for organising waiting lists and identifying people likely to miss appointments.

“I think it’s going to be transformative. If you look at what tech and AI can do, I think it’s going to make a huge difference,” he said.

Civil Service unions have warned that as many as 50,000 people could lose their jobs and vital services could deteriorate after Ms Reeves confirmed plans to cut Civil Service running costs by 15% by the end of the decade.

Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Fran Heathcote warned former prime minister Gordon Brown had attempted to cut backroom Civil Service staff, and the “consequences of that was chaos”.

Meanwhile, cuts to the education budget could come from ending free school meals for younger children, according to the Times newspaper.

The Liberal Democrats urged ministers against making such a cut, with the party’s education spokesperson Munira Wilson saying: “Children cannot be expected to learn on empty stomachs.

“If the Government go ahead with this, they should hang their heads in shame as they slash free school meals while giving a tax cut to (Elon) Musk and other tech billionaires.

“Liberal Democrats are calling for free school meals to be extended to all children in poverty.”

The Chancellor has repeatedly said she will not budge from her fiscal rules, which rule out borrowing to fund day-to-day spending.

This has led to mounting pressure over how to balance the books – by raising taxes or cutting spending – amid disappointing growth figures and higher-than-expected borrowing.

She told The Sun she would not be raising taxes in the spring statement.

An impact assessment for welfare cuts is due to be published alongside the Chancellor’s statement on Wednesday.