Osborne 'won't endanger security'
Funding for counter-terrorism operations looks likely to be protected in the Government's forthcoming spending review, after Chancellor George Osborne vowed he would not do anything to endanger Britain's security at home or abroad.
The Chancellor also appeared to rule out further cuts to benefits - despite reports that Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith believes more money can be saved from the welfare budget - and said it would not be sensible to increase taxes or borrowing.
In a round of media interviews, Mr Osborne announced that seven Government departments have provisionally agreed cuts of up to 10% for 2015/16, a month ahead of the June 26 spending review when the Chancellor will announce departmental budgets for the first year of the next Parliament. The savings amount to 20% of the £11.5 billion which Mr Osborne has demanded from Cabinet colleagues.
The Chancellor confirmed that negotiations continue with a number of ministers, including Home Secretary Theresa May and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, who are believed to be resisting deep cuts to their departments.
In the wake of last week's murder of soldier Lee Rigby by suspected Islamist extremists in Woolwich, Mr Osborne was asked whether he could protect the budget for counter-terrorism.
He told BBC1's Breakfast: "We've been able to protect it in the past and I'm not going to do anything which is going to endanger the security of this country at home or abroad or the fight against terrorism, but that doesn't mean that you can't take a vast institution like the Home Office and look for savings."
David Cameron's official spokesman told reporters the Prime Minister agreed with Mr Osborne's comments, but declined to confirm whether this amounted to a guarantee that the anti-terror budget would escape the axe.
Mr Osborne indicated that his "central assumption" in discussions with ministers was that savings should come from Whitehall departments and not from the welfare budget.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "My central assumption in this spending review is that this is money I am now looking for which is coming out of Whitehall departments, that we have already found billions of pounds of welfare savings this year and we have got to make sure that Whitehall is not let off the hook, that there are still substantial savings - better value for money we can get for taxpayers' money out of the machinery of government."
The Daily Telegraph reported that Mr Duncan Smith has personally contacted the Defence and Home Secretaries with an offer to cut the welfare bill by another £3 billion each year to protect spending on the armed forces and police - possibly by restricting housing benefit for under-25s and limiting support for families with more than two children. But a spokeswoman for Mr Duncan Smith said: "Iain has not had any special discussions about protecting the defence or security budgets. These measures were on the table at the time of the Autumn Statement."
