Hunt Considers Lower Benefits Rise to Cut Spending
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Jeremy Hunt refuses to rule out changing how benefits are increased in the Autumn Statement
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Benefits are usually increased each April based on the previous September's inflation rate
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Hunt may peg the increase to October's lower inflation rate instead, cutting the rise from 6.7% to 4.6%
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This would cut benefits spending by around £3 billion and hit 8 million households
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The move continues a long-term erosion of benefits under Conservative governments since 2010