Healey’s Welfare Crossroads | Leeds News

Leeds News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jul 22, 2026 · 1m

New Chancellor Mr. Healey, who famously quit Starmer’s cabinet over defense funding, now faces the politically explosive task of navigating welfare cuts — a move that nearly sparked rebellion last year. While Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden leaves options open and Makerfield MP Burnham vows to avoid “crude” cuts, Healey — once a vocal defender of welfare recipients — must now make tough calls. At his first cabinet meeting, Healey praised Rachel Reeves for building fiscal discipline that’s now enabling wins like the VAT cut on electricity bills — a symbolic, eighty-five-million-pound…