Osborne defends budget welfare hit

<p><br /> George Osborne says his £7bn welfare budget hit is necessary to protect frontline public services.<br /> </p><p><br /> The Chancellor said the spending review, revealed on Wednesday, involved "hard choices" but that they were fair.<br /> </p><p><br /> Labour has labelled the cuts a "slash and burn" strategy. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has called the measures "regressive", hitting the poor harder than the rich.<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Osborne said: "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.<br /> </p><p><br /> "If we don't deal with the rapid rise in things like the housing benefit bill, which is now greatly more than we spend on the police, then we will have a real problem."<br /> </p><p><br /> Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson said that the spending review had been "unfair as well as unwise and even untruthful in respect of some of the statistics."<br /> </p><p><br /> "We believe the way we bring down the deficit needs to be steady, needs to be sure. This slash and burn approach is something we wouldn't do."<br /> </p><p><br /> IFS acting director Carl Emmerson warned the public spending reductions could "reduce the quantity and quality of some public services" to such an extent that Mr Osborne may want to put some of the money back in.<br /> </p><p><br /> He said that the public finances "often do not behave as expected" in response to Government efforts to pull economic levers, and that a review after two years would be sensible.<br /> </p>