Black & White Bridging comments ahead of the Autumn Budget

26 November 2025

Damien Druce, COO of Black & White Bridging, said:

“I think the Budget is going to be a colossal, missed opportunity. We need reform of our welfare system and its ballooning bill. The welfare state was intended to be a safety net for people who found themselves in difficulties – or to provide help for those unable to work because of disability. I was brought up in poverty on a council estate. All of my life I’ve strived for more based on hard work, not hand-outs. I think the idea that living on benefits might become a way of life for generations of workless people would have been anathema to William Beveridge, the architect of the welfare state.

“But rather than reforming welfare entitlements and cutting the country’s spending, Ms. Reeves is set to scrap the two-child benefit cap, costing the country an additional £3bn. Labour MPs have already scuppered an earlier attempt to reform Personal Independence Payments.

“Given the Chancellor wants to cut debt, that means the country needs to raise more via taxes – and without an increase in income tax, that will mean raising more money from property.

“Instead, Ms Reeves should have been looking to reduce welfare spending – saving billions, keeping taxes down and boosting growth. Sadly, that would require vision, political will and leadership. Which is something that Ms Reeves does not appear to possess.”