John Healey has promised the benefits bill “will come down under Labour” and signalled there will be more “hard decisions” on cuts to public spending.

The Chancellor on Sunday said media interpretations suggesting he wanted the bill to start falling before the general election were “simply wrong” and he “never set out the timetable for savings”.

Confusion arose from Mr Healey’s comments earlier in the week over whether the ballooning cost of welfare would be cut before the next election, with the Government later declining to put a timeframe on it.

John Healey has promised the benefits bill “will come down under Labour” and signalled there will be more “hard decisions” on cuts to public spending.

He faced questions on the issue following his maiden Budget and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warning that sickness and disability benefits could cost £100 billion-a-year before the end of the decade.

Pressed on whether he was promising to bring down the overall benefits bill, or slow down the rate…