Osborne to make £4bn further cuts in welfare
by Peter Wozniak
Britain’s welfare budget is set for an additional £4 billion of cuts, on top of the £11 billion shaved off under the emergency Budget in June, according to George Osborne.
The chancellor argued that despite the vast scale of the cuts expected the government would continue to protect the most vulnerable in society.
Mr Osborne told the BBC: “There are five million people living on permanent out-of-work benefits. That is a tragedy for them and fiscally unsustainable for us as a country – we can’t afford it any more.
“Of course, people who are disabled, people who are vulnerable, people who need protection will get our protection, and more.”
The chancellor however singled out ‘work-shy’ groups claimed to be taking advantage of the benefits system to bear the brunt of the spending cuts in welfare.
He added: “People who think it’s a lifestyle choice to just sit on out-of-work benefits – that lifestyle choice is going to come to an end. The money won’t be there.”
Mr Osborne, in his attempts to bring down the UK’s budget deficit, is currently engaged in negotiations with all government departments to drastically reduce their budgets by as much as 40%.
The Department for Work and Pensions, upon which this extra £4 billion of cuts will fall, is under the responsibility of Iain Duncan Smith who has previously argued for more Treasury money to fund his flagship reform of the welfare system.
Mr Duncan Smith’s reforms would cost more in the short-term in order to aim to bring the long-term expenditure on welfare down by bringing more people into work.
The Treasury, raking for savings in every area of spending, is said to be unwilling to fund such a commitment, potentially causing discontent within the Cabinet as the consequences of the spending review are unveiled.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow work and pensions secretary, accused the chancellor of failing to protect those most vulnerable to the spending squeeze.
“George Osborne talks about cutting the welfare bill, but their own figures show their policies are cutting jobs and putting more people onto benefits,” she said.
“We know already that the coalition is hitting the poorest carers, pensioners and the most disabled. They urgently need to explain where these extra cuts will fall.
“We already introduced tough conditions on those who refused to work and we support strong requirements on jobseekers. But you can’t get more people into work if you cut the jobs for them to go to.”
The spending review is to be revealed on October 20th, with unions already planning mass demonstrations in protest.
