Overview

• Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride detailed £47 billion in annual savings, presenting the Conservatives as the only party prepared to cut spending to stabilise the public finances.
• Welfare proposals would bar non‑UK citizens from most benefits and social housing, with EU settled‑status holders exempt, a change estimated to affect about 470,000 current universal credit claimants.
• Disability reforms would remove PIP for less severe mental health conditions such as anxiety, require medical diagnoses for some benefits, and shift some support from cash payments to treatment or equipment.
• The plan includes cutting civil service numbers by roughly a quarter to save £8 billion and reducing overseas aid to 0.1% of national income to save £7 billion.
• Net zero subsidies would be rolled back by abolishing heat‑pump grants and trimming EV support, while a £5,000 “first‑job bonus” would divert new workers’ NI into a home‑deposit pot, drawing immediate criticism from Labour, the Lib Dems and aid groups.