Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned of a "national uprising" if the government does not increase benefits in line with inflation.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Brown said it would be "immoral" not to increase benefits amid inflation, which has soared in recent months to levels not seen in generations.

The current prime minister, Liz Truss, and Finance Ministry chief Kwasi Kwarteng are still not ruling out real benefit cuts as they try to find ways to cut billions of pounds in government spending after last month's mini-budget of tax cuts.

Brown said not raising benefits in line with inflation would be "unfair" and "unequal." "And I think most of all, it’s immoral. It’s asking the poor to bear the burden for the crisis that we face in this country and for mistakes that other people have made, and it’s a scar on the soul of our country, it’s a stain on our conscience," he said. "There will be a national uprising if this goes ahead."

The former Labor leader also criticized the mini-budget, warning that the country faces more crises. "If you look at that budget, irrespective of removing the top rate tax cut from 45p to 40p, there are billions of pounds that were given away to those who are already wealthy that could be used to pay for the benefits and to stop the health service being starved of resources that it needs," he said.