With no coalition partner, George Osborne negotiates himself out of £12bn welfare cut

Let’s face it: George Osborne’s pledge to save £12 billion from welfare over two years was never really credible. He never told us where the savings would come from, and it seemed as if he didn’t really know. So tonight’s news, that the Chancellor has cut this to £8bn and given himself an extra year (or two) to make the full £12bn, is welcome.

He kinda plucked the £12 billion figure out of the air in the middle of the general election. It was doable, from the whole welfare budget. But then Osborne's election-time promises came: pensioners (who are more likely to vote) would not be affected. So yet again, the pain would be borne by the working-age – precisely the same group that had taken most pain thus far.