UK Chancellor of Exchequer Reaffirms Government Plans to Cut Tax Credits

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said that the ruling UK Conservative Party is offering a budget with "lower welfare bills, but with higher wages and lower taxes" for citizens.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said on Monday that he would not change his plans to cut tax credits in the country in order to support working families.

In July, the ruling UK Conservative Party introduced a budget prescribing welfare budget cuts in the order of some 12 billion pounds ($18.28 billion). These cuts include reductions to "tax credits," money that households with children or with low incomes receive from the government.

"What we are offering the country is a new settlement where we get lower welfare bills but we get higher wages and lower taxes," Osborne said, speaking to ITV News.

According to research conducted by the UNISON public service union on October 3, more than 2.7 million working families with some 5.2 million children across the United Kingdom are expected to be affected by the government's budget cuts. The study's findings suggest that low-middle income households with children could lose up to 3,000 pounds a year once the cuts are implemented.

Earlier, the British Trade Union Congress (TUC) said the new state budget social-benefit cuts would cause serious damage to families with children.