George Osborne defies right-wing Tory calls for more welfare cuts

Iain Duncan Smith was ready to cut welfare by further £3bn to fund defence; no thanks says the Chancellor

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CHANCELLOR George Osborne this morning ruled out both tax increases and more cuts in welfare and warned the Cabinet awkward squad of ministers that they will have to accept deeper cuts in defence and security.

Osborne in effect aligned himself with David Cameron and Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, behind the coalition. He set himself against the right-wing group of ministers including Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and Welfare Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, who have been growing bolder in openly challenging Cameron and Osborne's authority in recent weeks about gay marriage, immigration and an in-out EU referendum.

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is the pseudonym for a London-based political consultant who writes exclusively for The Week.co.uk.