We already knew that welfare would be a key dividing line for George Osborne at the next election. He set up the dividing lines in the emergency budget and comprehensive spending review in 2010, and they have largely stuck, which is a testament to the Chancellor’s skill as a strategist. But at today’s Treasury Select Committee, Osborne thickened those dividing lines with Labour by saying that the welfare budget must take another billions of pounds’ worth of cuts. It was the language that Osborne used, as much as anything else, that revealed how the 2015 debate will pan out. He said:
‘My view is that welfare expenditure cannot be excluded from the difficult decisions that need to be made. If you want to maintain the same pace of reduction in government spending that we’ve had over this Parliament, rather than accelerating it, then you’re going to have to find billions of pounds of welfare savings.’
He also said:
‘Anyone who wants to be honest with the British public about dealing with the deficit, making sure we maintain public services at a sufficient quality should also be honest about the welfare savings that are required and of course the welfare cap… would be a great way to have that debate.’
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