UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has insisted the government's antiquated IT systems wouldn't allow him to raise welfare benefits to match rising inflation costs, as they only allow updating once a year.

Around 2.6MN people are in line for benefits on a system unchanged since the 1980s, which takes at least 4 months to update - while the one that covers some 12MN pensioners is even slower.

April's annual review only raised benefits 3.1%, despite inflation rocketing to 7%.

15 May 2022  RT