‘We’re becoming a welfare state with a country attached’: Liz Truss backs Badenoch's benefits booze ban as she brands welfare levels ‘ludicrous’
Ms Truss, the former prime minister, backed the policy but said she didn't think it went far enough
Liz Truss has told LBC the UK is becoming a "welfare state with a country attached" as she defended Conservative plans to ban benefits claimants from buying booze.
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has pledged to block long-term benefits claimants from spending taxpayer cash on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling in a bid to curb Britain's welfare bill.
Ms Truss, the former prime minister who served for 49 days between September and October 2022, backed the policy but said she didn't think it went far enough.
"Our benefit system is a disaster zone," she told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast.
Ms Truss said that the UK had "too many people being under the auspices of the welfare state."
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She continued: "We're becoming a welfare state with a country attached."
Under the Tory plans unveiled on Wednesday, anyone who claims Universal Credit when they are out of work would get six months of full benefits to find a job.
After that, the full rate would only be available to people who have contributed to the welfare system through their taxes for years.
Those who have not would have their UC standard rate slashed by a third and the payment would be loaded onto a “back to work” pre-payment card, which would ban spending on cigarettes, alcohol, betting and cash withdrawals.
The reforms could save the taxpayer £538 million a year by moving 350,000 benefits claimants onto a new “subsistence allowance”, the Tories estimate.
Ms Truss, however, said she would go even further than the Conservatives to slash welfare spending by removing the eligibility of all foreign nationals to claim benefits.
She also said she would lower the wage threshold at which people become eligible for benefits, describing the number of people claiming benefits as "ludicrous".
"(Universal credit) should be a safety net if you're in real trouble, not, as Kemi was saying, a lifestyle choice," she said.
In May this year 7.3 million adults in England and Wales between the ages of 20 and 64 were claiming universal credit, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.
The total benefits bill is forecast to rise to more than £400bn by the end of the decade according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.