Autumn Budget - Black & White Bridging comments

26 November 2025

Damien Druce, chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, said:

“The Budget was a colossal missed opportunity. We need to reform of our welfare system and tackle 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 on a council estate, in poverty; I’ve always strived for more based on hard work – not hand-outs. 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, Ms Reeves is scrapping 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 meant more tax – and without an increase in income tax, that in turn meant raising more money from property.

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