Institute for Fiscal Studies: Measures are "regressive", hitting the poor harder than the rich

George Osborne has defended his £7 billion hit on the welfare budget, insisting that it had been necessary to protect frontline public services.

The Chancellor acknowledged that his package of £81 billion of cuts announced in the spending review had involved "hard choices", but he insisted they were fair.

Labour, however, denounced the Government's "slash and burn" strategy while the Institute for Fiscal Studies said his measures were "regressive", hitting the poor harder than the rich.

Mr Osborne said that he had made a deliberate decision to cut benefits, such as housing benefit for single young people, rather than frontline services.

"I have made a conscious choice. I have decided to try to sustain spending on the National Health Service, on our schools, on some of the important infrastructure like our roads and green energy," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

Later, David Cameron said higher earners would pay more as a percentage of their income and that fairness was "about asking how much people give as well as how much people get".

"They pay most, not just as an amount of cash, they pay more as a percentage of their income, and that is what the definition of what being progressive is," the Prime Minister said.

None of the cuts would increase child poverty, he said, thanks to extra help for youngsters from deprived backgrounds.

"Fairness is actually about asking how much people give as well as how much people get and I think that we have done it in a way so we can genuinely say: it is difficult, it is tough but it is fair and we are going to take the country with us," Mr Cameron added.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg accused critics of "frightening" the public by unfairly focusing only on the announcements - such as huge benefit cuts - unveiled in the spending review: "People who are trying to take only one bit of the equation and say 'ah, that shows it is all very unfair' - they are not being very straight with people and frankly they are frightening people and that is not right, frightening people and claiming we are doing unfair things when we are not."

By The Press Association

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There is urgent need of approving a new citizenship law, Ms. Livia Turco, MP and head of Democratic Party’s Immigration Department has said.

She made the call while reacting to the latest survey by Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) revealing that there are 4,235,059 foreign residents in Italy, representing 7% of the national population,

Ms. Turco said there is an increase in the population of integrated immigrants, mainly families composed of workers and young people. They should not be feared but appreciated and involved in the development of the country, she said.

Ms. Turco stressed that the latest figures show it is very urgent to carry out a reform of the citizenship law.

The increase in the number of children born in Italy of immigrant parents calls for approval of the citizenship law that grants citizenship to those who are born in the country. Such a law should affirm that whoever is “born and grows up in Italy is an Italian”, Ms. Turco said.

The reform of citizenship law has been blocked at the Parliamentary Constitutional Affairs Committee for months because of totally different positions held by the ruling People of Freedom (PDL) party and Lega Nord on one part and centre left parties and Futuro e Libertà on the other.

Ms. Turco appealed to all political parties to make a commitment to approve the new citizenship law within the year.

By Stephen Ogongo Ongong’a

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Osborne: "To back down now and abandon our plans would be the road to economic ruin"

Charities have responded with mixed reactions to the Government's spending cuts, announced by George Osborne today.

Carers charity The Princess Royal Trust for Carers welcomed the Chancellor's pledge to provide an extra £2 billion for social care but voiced its concern over a £7 billion cut to the welfare budget.

Carole Cochrane, chief executive at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, said: "We are pleased that the coalition Government has acknowledged the importance of social care by pledging an additional £2 billion, as well as increased joint working between the NHS and social services; however, the full extent this will have on carers and their families is still unclear.

"We feel there is a real risk that support provided by social care will be wiped out by the loss of the family household income through benefit reductions.

"Our latest research revealed the perilous financial situation that carers are already in; with one in three carers not wanting to wake up in the morning because of their dire financial circumstances. Carers and their families can't afford to lose anymore."

Older people's charity Age UK expressed its "relief" that Mr Osborne had pledged to maintain universal benefits for pensioners including free eye tests, bus passes, TV licences for the over 75s and winter fuel payments.

Michelle Mitchell, charity director at Age UK, said: "Generally Age UK believes that this is a fair deal for older people although we are still working through some of the detail.

"We are relieved that universal benefits such as winter fuel payments have been retained.

"We welcome the Department of Health's decision to find an extra £2 billion for social care but at the moment it is unclear whether this will represent a rise in spending in real terms, given the swingeing cut of 26% to Government funding for councils.

"We are disappointed that the Chancellor has presented the entire amount as additional funding whereas it appears unlikely that this is the case.

"People at the end of their working lives will be disappointed that the rise in state pension age has been brought forward by six years as this will impact most on the poorest by shortening the retirements of those living in areas of low life expectancy.

"However we understand that difficult decisions have had to be made in the current climate."

The Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI), a charity that offers advice to small charities for free, announced it would increase the scope of the free capacity-building services it offers to small charities to assist those organisations affected by today's Comprehensive Spending Review.

Pauline Broomhead, chief executive of the FSI, said: "Small charities play a huge role in supporting citizens in every community to play an active role in society.

"Like all of us, these charities face increased challenges as the Government moves to reduce the deficit.

"Our free programmes teach the key fundraising and back-office skills that make a charity sustainable.

"We are determined to ensure that any small charity feeling anxious in light of Government cuts can access this support and, as such, we are looking at ways to increase the support available including additional training days and roadshows that will take training and advice sessions to cities across the UK."

Shared parenting charity Families Need Fathers (FNF) said the spending review included some swingeing cuts in family justice and children's policy.

It said it recognised that cuts needed to be made but maintained that the Government could reform the family justice system while achieving significant savings.

FNF suggested there should be a presumption of shared parenting, which would result in more children having both parents fully involved in their lives, more time for both parents to work and less pressure on the welfare budget.

It also called for a reform to the legal aid system so that one parent could not abuse legal aid and the courts to deprive their child of the other parent's involvement in their life.

Craig Pickering, chief executive of FNF, said: "The Government can save around £100 million a year while making significant reforms of the family justice system. We need the scalpel, not the hatchet."

Mr Osborne, concluding his announcement of the spending review told the House of Commons: "Today's the day when Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the bills from a decade of debt.

"To back down now and abandon our plans would be the road to economic ruin. We will stick to the course. We will secure our country's stability. We will not take Britain back to the brink of bankruptcy."

For more information about the charities visit www.carers.org, www.thefsi.org, www.ageuk.org.uk or www.fnf.org.uk.

By Emma Foster, Community Newswire, Press Association

Friends of the Earth criticise move to cut bus funding and increase rail fares

Friends of the Earth's transport campaigner Richard Dyer has criticised Chancellor George Osborne's announcement in Parliament today that the Government will cut bus subsidies and raise the cap on rail fares.

Dyer said: "Cutting bus funding is a huge mistake - we should be making it easier for people to use public transport instead of pushing up fares and reducing services. Making rail travel more expensive will make driving and flying more financially attractive, with serious consequences for the environment, while widening the M62 and M25 will increase traffic and emissions. 

"Increasing fares and building roads will do nothing to achieve the Government's aim of cutting carbon from transport - it should be investing in public transport and schemes to encourage greener travel instead." 

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