LibDem backbencher forces Osborne to explain £4bn

Mr Speaker Bercow today agreed with Bob Russell, the Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester, that a Treasury minister should attend the House of Commons to explain planned cuts in welfare benefits. As a result, Chancellor George Osborne was forced to publicly defend his announcement of cuts on top of the £11bn already slated in the emergency budget. Mr Russell told Radio 4 this afternoon that we should not forget that Labour got us into the mess which made cuts necessary, but what Mr Osborne was considering could affect the most vulnerable in his constituency.

The Independent also has the story.