He refers to OBR figures on spending. But welfare spending is a broad category. State pension is the biggest part of welfare spending.

If we decompose this data the figure that emerges looks very different.

1) Real #Pension spending shot up and was decoupled form the real economy (#TripleLock)

2) #Welfare spending was flat nominally & declined in real terms by around 30%.

This is what #austerity looks like.

If this was a #Econ101 assignment, this would be a clear fail.

But... there is a

So sinister the way people against the #triplelock always talk in %ages ... "A 10% hike, tut, tut!"
In the context of the State Pension that 10% hike amounts to £74 a month.
Effectively, then, these people are saying that the OAPs (who raised them) aren't worth £18 more a week.😠

Nadhim Zahawi has refused to commit to the pensions triple lock, amid growing fears of a U-turn on the issue.
Around 12.5 million people who receive the state pension could face a real-terms cut in earnings if their payments do not rise in line with soaring inflation, which is currently at around 10 percent.
#uk #triplelock #pensions
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1688333/Nadhim-Zahawi-pensions-triple-lock-rishi-sunak-budget-inflation