A PETULANT George Osborne vowed to press on with cuts to tax credits yesterday despite his detested policy’s progress being thwarted by peers.

The Tory Chancellor’s plan to slash the incomes of 3.3 million families by £1,300 a year on average was twice defeated in the Lords on Monday night.

Letters due to land on doorsteps days before Christmas telling claimants of the cuts have now been delayed, a Downing Street spokeswoman conceded.