CofE bishops weigh in on tax credit row

Following the Lords decision to delay the cuts, a third vote saw the Tories defeated again – this time by a majority of 17, after a Labour motion to delay the cuts until ministers come forward with “full transitional protection” for those affected for at least three years.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s cabinet is split over the need for action to soften the impact of the cuts, the Sunday Telegraph reported, citing unidentified ministers who warned that it would reinforce the Conservatives’ image as the “nasty party”.

“We can’t have a situation where the unelected peers overrule the elected House of Commons”. Peers aren’t supposed to oppose tax and spending measures approved by the lower house. More than one in four people in the region (25%) say they think more negatively of the government because of cuts to tax credits.

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, told Sky News that flooding the Lords would be an “outrage”, adding: “I think there would be outrage in the Conservative Party as well because he would be threatening the ability of the House of Lords to amend and to express a view – something which I believe they are constitutionally entitled to do”.

Osborne could also retain the basic principle of the tax credit cuts while fiddling with the details to protect the lowest earners.

“The Chancellor has shown previously he has a track record of supporting working families through things like the council tax freeze and fuel duty freeze”, she said.

What are tax credits and what are the changes?

While the chancellor has basked in this Chinese glory, he has also had to deal with an ongoing row over slashing tax credits – cash payments introduced by the last Labour government to top up the incomes of low-paid workers.

These cuts are going to hurt ordinary working voters, and although Tories have been aware of a potential backlash, they are united in a belief that the system needs reforming.

But the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says higher wages will make up for only a fraction of the loss of income – and the Chancellor has refused to publish Treasury analysis.

How much might you lose from the tax credit cuts?

More than three million families will lose an average of £1,300 a year from April but the Government said eight out of 10 would be “better off” overall. An aide to Mr. Osborne wouldn’t say whether concessions were likely, saying the Treasury chief is awaiting the outcome of the vote. Government sources have said they’re going to “suspend” the Lords, which they do not have the power to do.

Mr Osborne’s defeat was received with a cheer in the Commons – and murmurs of interest in the Lords. In the manner of a parent pleading with a hard child, Baroness Stowell, Leader of the Lords, promised that if they were all good and didn’t vote against the Government, the Chancellor would “listen very carefully” to their “concerns”. A vote is due later Monday.

The prospect of the cuts being killed off altogether appears slim after a rare “fatal motion” tabled by Liberal Democrats failed to gain Labour backing. Christopher Foster, the lord Bishop of Portsmouth, described the planned cuts as “morally indefensible”.

Conservatives have warned that opposing the cuts are not in the remit of the Lords because they are a financial issue, and they have warned of constitutional repercussions for the Upper Chamber.

In the debate on the House of Commons on this, the statutory instrument was passed with a majority of 35 – much bigger than our government majority’.