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| Tories consider cutting tax credits for working families despite election promise not to | Tories consider cutting tax credits for working families despite election promise not to |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Government is looking at making £5bn of its planned £12bn welfare cuts by slashing tax credits for working families, reports suggest. | |
| Around 3.7 million low-income families would lose out on £1,400 a year from the cuts, according to a scenario outlined by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. | Around 3.7 million low-income families would lose out on £1,400 a year from the cuts, according to a scenario outlined by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. |
| BBC Newsnight says allies of the Chancellor George Osborne are examining the plans, which they believe would increase “work incentives”. | BBC Newsnight says allies of the Chancellor George Osborne are examining the plans, which they believe would increase “work incentives”. |
| If the cuts go ahead they would contradict statements made by David Cameron during the general election campaign. | If the cuts go ahead they would contradict statements made by David Cameron during the general election campaign. |
| Asked during a Question Time special whether tax credits and child benefit were at risk, Mr Cameron said he rejected the idea. | Asked during a Question Time special whether tax credits and child benefit were at risk, Mr Cameron said he rejected the idea. |
| "I don't want to do that. This report that was out today is something I rejected at the time as prime minister and I reject again today," he told the audience. | "I don't want to do that. This report that was out today is something I rejected at the time as prime minister and I reject again today," he told the audience. |
| But government sources told the programme that they did not consider the poverty alleviation provided by the tax credit system legitimate and that it “papered over” problems. | But government sources told the programme that they did not consider the poverty alleviation provided by the tax credit system legitimate and that it “papered over” problems. |
| Former minister Damian Green said the Government was right to look at the cuts despite Mr Cameron pledging they would not happen. | Former minister Damian Green said the Government was right to look at the cuts despite Mr Cameron pledging they would not happen. |
| "The scale of the cuts, it is quite big, they are necessary and we had a government elected about a month ago on the basis of doing this," he told Newsnight. | "The scale of the cuts, it is quite big, they are necessary and we had a government elected about a month ago on the basis of doing this," he told Newsnight. |
| Labour said the cuts would make families less secure. | Labour said the cuts would make families less secure. |
| Before the election the Liberal Democrats leaked documents which appeared to suggest the Conservatives were considering cuts to tax credits and child benefit before the election. | Before the election the Liberal Democrats leaked documents which appeared to suggest the Conservatives were considering cuts to tax credits and child benefit before the election. |
| Downing Street dismissed the documents at the time as “scaremongering”. | Downing Street dismissed the documents at the time as “scaremongering”. |
| George Osborne and Iain Duncan Smith have pledged to make £12bn welfare cuts but would not expand on which cuts they would make before the election. | George Osborne and Iain Duncan Smith have pledged to make £12bn welfare cuts but would not expand on which cuts they would make before the election. |
| Officials at the DWP are likely to ministers with a list of “very, highly or extremely controversial” potential cuts to child benefits, according to documents leaked to the Guardian newspaper before the election. | Officials at the DWP are likely to ministers with a list of “very, highly or extremely controversial” potential cuts to child benefits, according to documents leaked to the Guardian newspaper before the election. |