There is little doubt Mr Corbyn personally wants to see benefits uprated every year

Jeremy Corbyn has thrown Labour’s welfare policy into confusion, by failing to deliver a promise to reverse the benefits freeze.

The Labour leader, who was visiting marginal seats in Scotland, was due to announce the policy at a rally on Friday.

In words released ahead of his appearance in Coatbridge, near Glasgow, journalists were sent a briefing note advising that he would say: "We will lift the freeze on social security, using part of the billions we set aside for reform in our costed manifesto".

He did not say the line. What, therefore, is Labour's policy for some 10 million families affected by the freeze since 2016 on working-age benefits such as housing benefit, jobseekers' allowance and tax credits?

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Some commentators were cynical, seeing it as attempt to spin favourable headlines, while giving the policy deniability given that it will cost a hefty £3bn a year, which was not accounted for in the election manifesto.


A Labour spokesman explained Mr Corbyn did intend to say the line and that the party was "confident" of delivering the policy if they form the next Government, which sounds a little less like a firm promise.

Welfare savings have generated questions for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn for months, and reveal some of the fault lines within the party.

Mr Corbyn and his allies feel vindicated by an election campaign which offered a clear rejection of austerity, and resonated with voters to a far greater degree than many in the Labour party or the Tories had expected.

There is little doubt that he personally wants to see benefits uprated every year.

On Friday, he railed against a "social security system, which under the Tories is failing our pensioners, the working poor, and disabled people."

But while the election manifesto, which made big promises to students (to abolish fees), to pensioners (to keep their winter fuel allowance and triple lock) and to public services - all of which Labour outlined funding for - the money was not earmarked for this.

The frontbench faced questions about this at the time, with business spokesman Barry Gardiner insisting in a TV interview that Mr Corbyn "does not mean all benefits" when he talked about lifting the freeze.

Mr Corbyn himself, when grilled on Sky News by Jeremy Paxman, only said that benefits should rise and £2bn a year would be put into the system to "reduce the effects" of welfare cuts. Why reignite the confusion now?

A spokesman explained to me the freeze could be lifted "from day one" of a Labour government, and that the party's plans for a £10 living wage and major housebuilding programme would reduce the welfare bill.

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Others I spoke to in the party were less clear on the timescale and whether the policy had his top team's support.

It is far from unusual for parties in opposition, or in Government, to change their spending promises.

Theresa May made an eye-catching promise to cap energy bills for 17 million bill payers, which was watered down into a request to the regulator to the look at the poorest value tariffs.

Surrounded by the party faithful at rallies it is hard to resist the temptation to go further.

But Labour under Mr Corbyn is already trusted as the party most concerned about increasing benefits to those who have seen them eroded for years.

And it's the Conservatives, having abandoned their target to balance the books by 2020, who find themselves struggling to justify further cuts to public spending.

Hinting, even in vague terms, that he would take action to cancel student debt has already landed him in hot water.

With plenty of spending giveaways to offer already, why hand the Conservatives and crucially, floating voters, the opportunity to say that Labour's sums don't add up?