Of all the rightwing thinktanks in London, there are few that are more rightwing than the Institute of Economic Affairs. The IEA is robustly libertarian, and is often described as being the inspiration for some of the ideas in Liz Truss’s mini-budget. But even the IEA has reservations about some of the proposals in the Conservative plans to cut welfare spending announced today. In its comment on the plan, it is broadly positive, but it suggests that two of Kemi Badenoch’s policies are unduly punitive. (In a third area, pensions, the IEA thinks Badenoch should be doing more to cut costs.) Responding on behalf of the IEA, Valentin Boboc, its chief economist, said: The Conservatives are right to recognise that welfare reform requires stronger work incentives and lower barriers to hiring, such as reducing employer national insurance, recognising previous contributions and improving benefit assessments. However, some proposals sit uneasily with those ambitions. For instance, freezing social