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PMQs live: David Cameron says he's 'delighted' that tax credit cuts are going ahead

Labour leader challenged David Cameron on tax credit cuts, job losses in steel industry and UN investigation into UK's record on disability rights

Matt Dathan
Online political reporter
Wednesday 21 October 2015 10:56 BST
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Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs
Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs (PA)

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David Cameron has said he was "delighted" to see his Government's plans to cut tax credits passed a Commons vote last night as Jeremy Corbyn quoted concerns raised by Conservative MPs to challenge him on the reforms.

In the third Prime Minister's Questions between the pair, Mr Cameron dismissed a United Nations investigation into the treatment of disabled people by the British Government, saying it may not be all it has been “cracked up to be”.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister also faced a backlash from a swathe of Labour MPs about the thousands of job losses at steel plants across the UK, while Mr Corbyn demanded ministers take "concrete action" to help those affected.

However Mr Cameron insisted that although he would do "everything" in his power to help, he did not want to "make promises I can't keep" and refused to intervene to change the price of steel.

He shot back at Opposition MPs not to give him a "self-righteous lecture" on the steel industry, claming his record was better than the last Labour government's. ​

It came as:

Mr Corbyn is expected to continue his style asking crowd-sourced questions from the public, with follow up questions used to press the Prime Minister harder. He has been handed a gift after several Tory MPs pleaded with George Osborne on Tuesday to soften the impact of the £4.5bn a year cuts to tax credits.

He has plenty of material to quote from on tax credits and only needs to look across the chamber for inspiration. Tory MP Heidi Allen used her maiden speech to warn that the "poorest and most vulnerable" will be hit by the cuts, which are estimated to make 3.2 million families worse off by an average of £1,300 a year.

"Choosing whether to eat or heat is not a luxury and that is the reality that I’m talking about," she said in a blistering attack - a line Corbyn could steel to humiliate Cameron and score an easy win if he chooses to use it at Prime Minister's Quesitons.

He is also expected to challenge Mr Cameron over the Government's increasingly cosy cozy relationship with the Chinese as an estimated £30bn of business deals are set to be sealed with the country as President Xi Jinping continues his four-day visit to the UK. He will travel to Manchester later on Wednesday, after reportedly being diverted from his plans to visit Birmingham by George Osborne, who wanted him to boost his Northern Powerhouse project.

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