'PIP is a lifeline' - Sadiq Khan quizzed on Labour's welfare reforms
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00:00Very shortly in Parliament, Liz Kendall will be setting out the government's plans to cut the size of the overall welfare bill and overhaul how it works.
00:08Do you support that ambition and crucially, do you have any concerns about how they're going about it?
00:12I'll study in great detail the Green Paper when it's published.
00:16The basic objective of trying to reduce the size of welfare benefit bills I support because we have more people who work if they can work, which is really important.
00:24There are disincentives in terms of those who are receiving benefits. If they try a job and it doesn't work out, they've got to start again in relation to claiming benefits.
00:33What we've got to make sure though is that that safety net is still there.
00:36I've seen how important the safety net is for people who could lose their job or they may become unwell.
00:42They may need support when they're unwell and so I'm keen to study the Green Paper in terms of what it says.
00:49My promise to Londoners is I'll make sure the government knows these in relation to when we respond to the Green Paper.
00:56One of the measures that's attracted some of the most concern has been reported plans to either freeze or tighten eligibility for personal independence payments.
01:05Is that something you'd be worried about?
01:07Well, I've seen different reports on different days. It depends on which day and which report I read.
01:11What's clear is I've seen what a lifeline PIP is to those who receive PIP.
01:16What I would want to see is anybody who's really unwell who needs PIP to lose that support.
01:21That's why I want to study the details in the Green Paper and respond accordingly.
01:26You'd agree presumably with Andy Burnham when he says there's no case for cutting PIP where someone is entirely benign to it and they're not able to work.
01:35I've met people who are on PIP but for PIP would really struggle and that's why it's really important that those people don't lose out.
01:43My last question is Wes Streeting claiming in the last few days that mental health conditions have been overdiagnosed in the UK
01:51and that people haven't been able to fulfil their full potential as a result of that. What did you make of those remarks?
01:56I'm not sure about the medical diagnosis of people who are mentally unwell.
02:03What I'm clear about is I trust the experts in relation to whether it's a GP, whether it's a psychiatrist or a psychologist in relation to diagnosis.
02:10I think what Wes was talking about was the situation where there are more and more recipients of the benefits.
02:16Now that's addressed in terms of getting people back into work.
02:20It's not for me as a politician, it's not medically trained to talk about diagnosis over or under.