The government is determined to cut a further £10bn from the benefits budget to help fight the deficit, Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce this and details of further measures when he addresses the Tory conference.
He is also expected to rule out a levy on high value properties, which has been sought by the Lib Dems, but like pretty much everything else the Lib Dems have wanted recently it looks like their set to miss out once again.
But as I’ve said previously, were the Lib Dems seriously expecting the Conservatives to introduce a wealth tax/mansion tax (whatever you want to call it), or are they now so fed-up with being ignored that they’ll just say absolutely anything, even if it’s complete nonsense.
Seizing on this the Conservatives have acted fast to rub a rather large amount of salt into the wounds by not only ruling out a wealth tax but announcing another round of cuts, which will see welfare spending cut by a further £10bn by 2016-17, on top of the £18bn worth of cuts announced in 2010.
Whether further cuts to an already healthily trimmed bill will help with the reduction of the deficit remains to be seen but in light of recent events it seems that the Lib Dems are losing credibility and influence by the minute.
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