Labour will reduce ballooning benefits bill, claims John Healey

John Healey has vowed that Labour will reduce the benefits bill, after admitting the current system is not working . The Chancellor created widespread confusion earlier this week, after failing to clarify whether the ballooning cost of welfare will be cut before the next election by declining to put a timeframe to it. But Healey claimed on Sunday that the bill will shrink under this government, after being pressed once more on if he will lower the costs or stem the rate of increase. Speaking on BBC s Laura Kuenssberg, he said: We ll start the changes next year, and we ll bring that bill down, and we ve already demonstrated how we ll do that for the long-term. This is a system which is not working. We have to make big changes. We will. Healey added that the rate of increase in the benefits bill has slowed since Labour took office, while numbers were booming under the Tories . Making hard decisions Healey said the government is also prepared to make hard decisi