Boris Johnson sides with George Osborne over more cuts…or does he?

George Osborne’s speech on the need for £25 billion more cuts has opened up some strange dividing lines in Westminster. Labour has done exactly what the Chancellor wanted and questioned the need for the cuts. Nick Clegg has also fallen into place as Osborne hoped and moaned about them being unfair. But Clegg has found an unlikely ally in Iain Duncan Smith, who has let it be known that he does not much like the idea that Osborne could cut a further £1 billion from the welfare bill. So who did Boris Johnson cosy up to this morning when he had his say?

Well, the Mayor was certainly keen to suggest that he’s not in Camp Clegg, managing to paint the Deputy Prime Minister as a, er, condom for the Prime Minister:

‘I don’t want to get into some kind of endless ding-dong with poor old Cleggers. He’s there to fill a very important ceremonial function, as David Cameron’s lap dog-come-prophylactic protection device for all the difficult things David Cameron has to do.