Number 10 lashes out at Lords on tax credits vote

Number 10’s response to the government being defeated twice in the Lords on tax credits is, unsurprisingly, to say that the problem is the House of Lords, not the policy in question. A Number 10 spokesman has said this evening that there will be a review to see how the breach of a constitutional convention can be repaired:

‘The Prime Minister is determined we will address this constitutional issue. A convention exists and it has been broken. He has asked for a rapid review to see how it can be put back in place.’

There will be further details of this review tomorrow.

This does suggest that the government will hold firm to its policy on tax credits, while creating a fight over the way the Lords functions. But that may not be the correct reading. It could be more likely that Osborne wants to announce mitigation on his own terms, such as in the autumn statement.