George Osborne rebuked for boasting he halved £1.7bn EU surcharge

Treasury committee stops short of saying chancellor misled parliament by claiming he won the bill reduction when the surcharge was halved by the UK's automatic rebate

MPs have criticised George Osborne for exaggerating claims that he halved a 1.7bn surcharge imposed by Brussels last year when Britain's rebate automatically cut the figure to 850m.

A committee of MPs has stopped short of accusing the chancellor of misleading parliament, but said he should have known how the rebate applied before he boasted on TV and to MPs about his success at the negotiating table.

The terms of the UK's rebate calculation are set out in EU law. It should, therefore, have been clear it would apply.

He has been caught out again and his credibility is further undermined.