In his first appearance since welfare minister Iain Duncan Smith resigned in protest at the cutting of state benefits for the disabled and long term sick, Osborne admitted he had made mistakes but defended his plans to cut spending.
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Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said Duncan Smith’s move would bolster the “out” campaign.
The shadow chancellor said it was said it was “unacceptable” that Mr Osborne would not be responding and accused him of “cowardly hiding behind” the junior minister. “Otherwise why has Duncan Smith supported 6 years of Conservative budgets that have clobbered the disabled and working poor to fund giveaways for the wealthiest?”
Duncan Smith’s resignation “marks the most unsafe moment for the party since the ousting of Margaret Thatcher the best part of 25 years ago”, he wrote.
One minute, the sun is shining brightly on the Conservative ranks, with David Cameron apparently coasting to the conclusion of his time at Number Ten, while the Labour Party is in utter turmoil over a lame duck leader considered by many of his own MPs to be a general election liability.
As well as the welfare changes, Downing Street said ministers would also not seek to oppose amendments to scrap the so-called “tampon tax” and an increase in VAT on solar panels.
Mr Osborne announced the £1.3 billion (S$1.9 billion) of disability cuts in Wednesday’s budget, at the same time as a tax cut for higher earners, which proved the final straw for Mr Duncan Smith. The government argues that its austerity medicine has been shared fairly across all income brackets – its mantra has been “we’re all in this together”.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith cited concerns over further cash cuts for the most vulnerable to help those who are better-off as the reason for his dramatic resignation on Friday.
“It seems to me we need to look at the very heart of this government, at its incompetence, at the way it puts forward proposals that simply don’t add up and expects the most needy in our society to take the hit for them”.
After a weekend of feuding that was apparently about welfare but underpinned by the split within the Conservative Party about whether to leave the European Union, Tory members of Parliament opted not to challenge the prime minister. The Conservatives remained out of office until 2010.
Steven Fielding, director of the Center for British Politics at the University of Nottingham, said that for the Conservatives “it’s a awful crisis – but they’re not facing Tony Blair”. But with headlines describing his party as being locked in “civil war”, he is likely to face questions about benefit cuts.
Bookmakers have now lengthened the odds on Osborne getting the top job, with William Hill making Johnson the favourite at 15/8, meaning a successful £8 bet would make a profit of £15.
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Asked why he chose to quit even though the Treasury had signalled a last-minute climbdown on the PIP issue, Mr Duncan Smith said the department would still have been forced to find equivalent savings.
