George Osborne accused of hitting most vulnerable with tax plans

Chancellor urged by Labour and Lib Dems to give priority in his budget to low earners and use spare money to offset welfare cuts

Chancellor George Osborne is under pressure to shelve promised tax cuts for the well-off as he looks to plug a massive and unexpected black hole in the public finances.

In his budget on Wednesday, Osborne faces one of his toughest political and economic tests to date as he tries to keep his deficit reduction strategy on course after a period of weaker than expected growth, while honouring Tory election pledges to cut personal taxes.

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