Louise Haigh Faces Welfare Bill Grilling as She Stands In for Andy Burnham at PMQs
First Secretary of State Louise Haigh stood in for Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday 4 November 2026, while Burnham attended a Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean. Conservative deputy leader Alex Burghart led the opposition questions and pressed Haigh repeatedly on welfare spending, citing a £183 billion working-age welfare bill for this year.
Haigh replied that the Government is committed to bringing the benefits bill down and said it has committed to legislate. She gave no date or parliamentary timeframe for when the bill would fall, a gap that Burghart returned to throughout the session.
Deputy PMQs at a glance
| Date | 4 November 2026 |
| Stood in for | Andy Burnham (Commonwealth summit, Caribbean) |
| Stood in | Louise Haigh, First Secretary of State |
| Opposition questioner | Alex Burghart, Conservative deputy leader |
| Central issue | Working-age welfare bill, £183bn figure cited by Burghart |
| Government position | Committed to bringing the bill down and to legislate, no timeframe given |
| Wider forecast | Total welfare spending forecast £353bn this year rising to £431bn in 2031/32 |
Why Haigh, not Burnham, faced the Commons
Burnham was absent because he was attending a Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in the Caribbean, in Antigua and Barbuda. That left Haigh, as First Secretary of State, to take the Government’s place at the despatch box for the weekly session.
The session came one week after Chancellor John Healey’s Budget, which put welfare spending and the wider public finances at the centre of the political argument. Haigh also addressed the EU deal during the session, saying the Brexit deal Labour inherited had damaged the economy and weakened immigration control, and that a new deal could add billions, in remarks reported by The Independent.
The £183bn figure at the centre of the exchanges
Burghart said the £183bn figure was the highest ever, higher than during Covid, and higher than defence, schools and policing combined. He argued it was nearly £10,000 for every working household, claims made in the chamber that are reported here as Burghart’s arguments, not as independently verified totals.
Welfare spending was forecast to rise from £353bn this year to £431bn in 2031/32, according to a forecast cited in BBC live coverage of the session. That wider forecast helped explain why Burghart kept returning to the same figure, even as Haigh insisted the direction of travel would change.
Burghart mocked Burnham’s reported 10-year plan, joking he was “old enough to remember” Keir Starmer’s 10-year plan from six months earlier. He asked whether the 10-year plan would commit to reducing the record welfare bill.
What Haigh would — and would not — commit to
Haigh answered that she would keep answering the same way no matter how many times she was asked, that steps are already being taken and further steps will follow. She said the Government “cannot afford to pay for failure and must invest in success”.
Burghart accused Labour of lacking “the bottle” to cut welfare and asked whether taxes would rise to cover increasing costs. Haigh did not give a promise ruling out tax rises in the exchanges reported.
Burghart also raised the delay of the Alan Milburn-led review into young people and work until after the Budget. Haigh did not, in the exchanges reported, give a new date for that review.
What the welfare row means for the Budget aftermath
After PMQs, Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said on BBC Politics Live that Labour will set out measures to bring the welfare bill down. She did not, in that appearance as reported, set out a date for those measures, and this article does not add one.
For now, the Government’s position remains a commitment to bring the bill down and to legislate, without a timeframe. That leaves the central question from the session — when, and by how much, the bill will fall — unanswered, in a run of UK political arguments about public money that includes a separate dispute over whether a UK slavery apology would cost taxpayers.
Frequently asked questions
Why was Andy Burnham absent from PMQs?
Burnham was attending a Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in the Caribbean, in Antigua and Barbuda. Haigh stood in for him as First Secretary of State.
What is the £183bn figure?
It is the working-age welfare bill figure for this year cited by Alex Burghart during the session. Burghart presented it as the highest ever and as higher than defence, schools and policing combined, and those comparisons are reported as his claims.
Did Haigh promise the welfare bill will fall before the next election?
No timeframe was given. Haigh said the Government is committed to bringing the bill down and to legislate, but she did not say when the fall would happen.
Did Haigh rule out tax rises?
No promise ruling them out was reported in these exchanges. Burghart asked whether taxes would rise to cover increasing costs, and Haigh did not give such a promise in the exchanges reported.
What happens next?
The Government says measures to bring the welfare bill down will be set out, as Bridget Phillipson said after PMQs. No date was given for those measures, and no date is added here.
