British finance minister George Osborne on Thursday faced stiff criticism over his budget on Friday as opposition emerged from within his own Conservative party over proposed disability benefit cuts. Ministers were under pressure as Conservative lawmakers spoke out against a proposed £1.3 billion ($1.9 billion, 1.7 billion euros) a year cut to disability benefits, and Friday newspaper front pages predicted a "rebellion" by backbenchers.
"The government needs to rethink its plan to cut disabled benefits," warned David Burrowes, a Conservative lawmaker who led a successful revolt to stop the government liberalising Sunday trading hours earlier this month, in the Daily Telegraph. "It is unlikely to get the support of the House of Commons given how much concern there is on this matter," fellow Conservative MP Andrew Percy told Channel 4 News. Ministers indicated that the plans could be watered down following the backlash, with Education Secretary Nicky Morgan saying the disability cut was "still being discussed in government". But Osborne defended his plan as a way to "make sure help goes to the people who need it most".
The rumblings came after think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that wages and living standards could fall and that Osborne risked missing his own target of reaching a public finance surplus by 2020. The Resolution Foundation, another think tank, also warned that planned tax changes would primarily benefit Britain's richest households. The budget included plans for a levy on drinks with more than five grams of sugar per 100 millilitres to battle obesity rates, which are among the worst in Europe.
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