08/10/2012

Chancellor Proposes £10bn Benefit Cut Vow

Chancellor George Osborne is set to announce plans to cut a further £10bn from the benefits budget to fight the deficit.

Speaking at the Tory conference he will outline proposals to shave the sum off the welfare bill by 2016-17, on top of the £18bn cuts announced in 2010.

The chancellor's ideas include a limit to the number of children in a family that should be supported by benefits, housing aid cuts for the under-25s and a curb on child tax credits.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme he said: "The rich need to contribute more. But you can't just balance the budget on the wallets of the rich.

"We've got to look at a very large welfare bill and find savings there. The rich are paying more in tax than they did in any one year of the last Labour government."

(GK)

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