Osborne.jpg George Osborne announced the cuts at the Conservative Party conference on Monday
CHANCELLOR George Osborne has announced plans to freeze state benefits for two years if the Tories win the 2015 general elections.
Speaking at the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham on Monday, Mr Osborne said the squeeze on benefits would enable the UK to save £3 billion.
“Working-age benefits will have to be frozen for two years. This is the choice that Britain needs to take to protect our economic stability and to secure a better future,” he said.
Mr Osborne also noted that the move is aimed at providing a “fair” welfare system and ensuring that benefits are not rising faster than taxpayers’ earnings.
He added that disability, pensioner and carer benefits will be excluded from the change, and said an extra £25 billion of permanent savings or new taxes would be needed to eliminate the country’s deficit.
But the opposition Labour shadow Treasury secretary Chris Leslie hit back at the plans and accused the Chancellor of serving the rich while ignoring those struggling to make ends meet.
“He (Osborne) is choosing to give the richest one per cent a £3 billion-a-year tax cut and opposing a mansion tax while cutting tax credits which make work pay for millions of striving families. While working people have seen their wages fall by £1,600 a year since 2010, the Tories have once again shown they are the party of a privileged few at the top,” Mr Leslie said.