Andy Burnham should not accept the “extraordinary” explosion in Personal Independence Payments and other disability benefits and must cut the amount the UK spends on them, one of the country’s most eminent economists has said. Paul Johnson, the former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the Government should aim to reduce the “huge” amount spent on the benefits, with a “tightening” of PIP criteria one option to rein in costs. Ahead of this autumn’s Budget, he said that the new Chancellor John Healey might have to increase taxes – with capital gains tax a leading contender – but […]