Victoria Derbyshire and Torsten Bell on Newsnight.Victoria Derbyshire asked a Labour minister if he is “OK with making people worse off” as she grilled him on the government’s cuts to welfare.
Torsten Bell was forced to admit he could not live on £70 a week as he was roasted by the BBC Newsnight presenter.
The pair clashed after work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall unveiled plans to slash £5 billion from the welfare bill by cutting health and disability benefits.
Charities and MPs have savaged the package of reforms, branding them “simply indefensible”.
On Newsnight on Tuesday, Bell, who is a minister in Kendall’s department, admitted “there will be some people that lose out from today’s announcement”.
“Are you ok with making people worse off?”
“I’m ok with building a sustainable system…”@vicderbyshire presses DWP minister Torsten Bell on the Government’s benefits crackdown aimed at saving £5bn a year by 2030. #Newsnightpic.twitter.com/NvgwBOMPDh
Later in the interview, Derbyshire told the minister “some young people are going to be living on around £70 pounds a week” as a result of Labour’s reforms.
“Could you live on £70 a week?”
“Absolutely not”
“So why do you expect young people to?”
“We won't”@vicderbyshire challenges DWP minister Torsten Bell on benefit reform.#Newsnightpic.twitter.com/mEbBnT92Aq
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·