Treasury says Healey hasn't committed to cutting welfare bill before election, claiming interview answer misinterpreted

John Healey is rowing back from his answer in an interview in the Today programme implying he wanted welfare spending to go down before the next general election. According to Chris Mason , the BBC’s political editor, Treasury sources are saying his words have been over-interpreted.

This relates to what Healey said in an interview with Nick Robinson for the Today programme. It was broadcast this morning, but recorded yesterday, and the BBC has written it up in a story on its website headlined: “Healey promises reduction in welfare bill before next election”.

For the record, here is the key exchange.

double quotation mark Robinson: Let’s take welfare if we could. £19bn up in the year ahead. That’s the entire police budget for England and Wales. That’s the entire annual defence equipment budget.…