Sajid Javid hopes government 'find a way' to increase benefits with inflation

Sajid Javid has said he hopes the new government can "find a way" to uprate benefits in line with inflation in an interview with ITV's Peston.

Speaking after Rishi Sunak's victory in the rapid Conservative Party leadership election, Mr Javid accepted the UK is facing a very tough economic situation.

But he said: "I would like to see if we could find a way to increase benefits by inflation but what I will say is that trade-offs are involved, I don't have all that detail and what those trade-offs are, so I will listen carefully to what the Chancellor has to say."

Once Mr Sunak is accepted as prime minister by King Charles on Tuesday, the first thing in his in-tray will be the medium fiscal statement due on October 31.

It is expected the chancellor will outline the economic reality the UK is in and how the government plans to close the black hole in its finances.

The situation has been made worse by Liz Truss's mini-budget which caused turmoil in the markets and led to the cost of government borrowing becoming more expensive.

When asked if Mr Javid voting for Ms Truss in the last leadership election was a mistake he said: "Of course it was and I think a lot of people will say that."

He said: "That episode was a mistake and Liz herself has talked about it as a mistake. But we need to move on from that and now with Rishi, with the skill and experience that he has, he's the right person for the right time. And it is very daunting and difficult as you say."

He said: "I voted for Liz because I wanted her to succeed, I hoped she would be able to deliver at least the tax cuts that she had said.

"But I've been honest about this, you know the reality is she went a lot further in terms of tax cuts and spending than anyone had anticipated.

"She didn't show respect for three of our major economic institutions, the Bank of England, the OBR, the Treasury, and that's why what happened, happened."

He also praised the fact Mr Sunak is the first British prime minister from an Asian background.

He said: "I've always believed the UK is the most successful multi-racial democracy on Earth and I think this takes it to a new level."

Mr Javid added: "Regardless of politics, this is beyond politics, I think something we can all celebrate, that those young people can see that in this country, in Britain, you can achieve anything if you put in the effort, regardless of your colour, your ethnicity, you can achieve anything."

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