George Osborne refuses to apologise over cuts

€1.64b of cuts abandoned as public spending ‘under control’

British chancellor George Osborne has repeatedly refused to apologise over his party’s attempt to introduce £1.3bn (€1.64bn) a year cuts in disability benefits as he said the cost of abandoning the policy could be absorbed because public spending was under control.

The chancellor admitted the now-shelved cuts had been a “mistake” and said he had listened to and learned from concerns about the changes to the personal independence payment.