Shadow chancellor attacks Osbourne on spending review

Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson accused the British government of taking a “reckless gamble with people’s livelihoods” which could wreck the economic recovery.

Amid noisy scenes in the House of Commons he declared: “We’ve seen people cheering the deepest cuts to public spending in living memory.

“For some members opposite this is their ideological objective ... this is what they came into politics for.”

Mr Osborne confirmed that spending on health would be ring-fenced and overseas aid would be protected.

Among the losers will be Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, which face annual budget cuts of 6% – with policing down 4% – while the Foreign Office will lose 24% over the next four years.

British Chancellor George Osborne announced a £7bn (€7.9bn) hit on the welfare budget today as he took an axe to public spending.

The Chancellor said that departments across Whitehall would face swingeing cuts over the next four years as the government acted to pull the country back “from the brink of bankruptcy”.

Delivering the comprehensive spending review, he told the House of Commons that raising of the state pension age to 66 would be brought forward to 2020, saving £5bn (€5.7bn) a year.

The welfare cuts – on top of the £11bn (€12.5bn) announced in the emergency Budget in June – include the axing of child benefit for higher rate taxpayers unveiled at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

However, he finally scotched speculation that the he was planning to cut child benefit for children over 16 years of age.

Mr Osborne described the package as “tough but fair”.

“Today’s the day when Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the bills from a decade of debt,” he said.

“To back down now and abandon our plans would be the road to economic ruin. We will stick to the course. We will secure our country’s stability. We will not take Britain back to the brink of bankruptcy.”