Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
‘Coward’ Osborne ducks cuts debate
Chancellor sends flunkey to ‘defend the indefensible’

“COWARDLY” George Osborne ducked the Commons yesterday amid a crisis that threatens to bring down his entire Budget.

The Chancellor refused to turn up to answer urgent questions about the status of brutal cuts to disability benefits proposed in the Budget.

Labour MPs shouted: “Where is he?” and “Frit” as Treasury Minister David Gauke stood in for him at the despatch box.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick speaking on social care during a press conference at Millbank Tower, London, July 30, 2026
Politics / 16 August 2026
16 August 2026

‘Ultimately, all of Reform's policies benefit big business and attack workers and the poor,’ Diane Abbott MP tells the Star

Labour Party MP Stephen Timms
Features / 23 July 2026
23 July 2026

The government’s Pip review looks like a carefully managed exercise in legitimising future cuts to disability support, argues Dr DYLAN MURPHY

People attending the People's Assembly Against Austerity protest in central London. Picture date: Saturday June 7, 2025
TUC Congress 2025 / 8 September 2025
8 September 2025

In the current climate, it is vital to bust the myths and put forward the case for a humane and decent social security system that supports people, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE