Tonight has not been a good one for George Osborne, with peers refusing to take his word that he was in ‘listening mode’ about tax credits. He didn’t look particularly happy about the matter when he gave a pooled clip to broadcasters a few minutes ago. He complained about an unelected group of Labour and Lib Dem lords voting down a matter passed by the House of Commons, and added:
‘I said I would listen and that’s precisely what I intend to do. I believe we can achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy while at the same time helping in the transition. That is what I intend to do at the autumn statement, I’m determined to deliver that lower welfare higher wage economy that we were elected to deliver and that the British people want to see.’
Osborne has been lucky in parliamentary terms up to this point. Many MPs either hadn’t worked out the impact of the tax credit cuts or were persuaded not to rebel on the matter when they voted on the statutory instrument introducing them in the Commons, and Labour’s disorganisation just a few days after electing a new leader meant the cuts passed with a surprising majority of 35.
But what has happened isn’t so much the unelected Lords ganging up on the Chancellor, but his luck running out. He chose to implement these cuts through a Statutory Instrument when they could have formed part of the Finance Bill, and now another cunning plan looks a little silly. Going to war with the Lords could prove to be yet another such cunning plan.
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