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.

However, he stressed that the public finances had to be brought under control to protect people who would be “crushed” by a collapsing economy. Mr Osborne defended his record as he responded to Iain Duncan Smith’s explosive resignation from the cabinet over cuts to the welfare budget.

Opening the final day of debate on the budget, Mr Osborne said he was part of a “compassionate, one-nation Conservative government determined to deliver social justice and economic security” and repeated his mantra that “we are all in this together” — a claim challenged by Mr Duncan Smith in his resignation letter.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell called for Mr Osborne to quit and said his behaviour “calls into question his fitness for the office he now holds” or, in a reference to the prospect of a future Tory leadership battle, “any leading office in government”.

Mr Osborne was challenged by a series of MPs to say sorry to the disabled people who feared losing out as a result of the now ditched plans to cut personal independence payments.

Former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie told him: “You have made a welcome U-turn, but shouldn’t you now acknowledge that was a mistake that you should say sorry for?”

Mr Osborne replied: “I have made it clear that where we’ve made a mistake, where we’ve got things wrong, we listen and we learn. That’s precisely what we’ve done.”

Former work and pensions secretary Mr Duncan Smith stormed out of the government on Friday, complaining that he was again being forced to make cuts to the most vulnerable while Mr Osborne was handing tax cuts to the better-off, which risked dividing the country.

Mr Osborneadmitted they had argued over Treasury cuts to welfare spending in the past but praised the former work and pensions secretary for being part of the team which has delivered a “fairer society for all”.

The reforms to personal independence payments had been due to save £4.4bn from the welfare budget by 2020.

The government has ruled out a further raid on welfare to pay for the cost of the U-turn and Mr Osborne said the public finances could “absorb” the lost savings.

The head of the Office for Budget Responsibility Robert Chote said following the decision to cancel the payments’ cuts, the government was now set to exceed its own welfare cap by £4bn.