Osborne’s first budget without Lib Dems likely to hit welfare state hard

Chancellor expected to blame Gordon Brown’s tax credit policy for making workers dependent on the stateCuts to housing benefit, a further lowering of the overall welfare cap and reductions to in-work tax credits are all being considered by George Osborne in next week’s budget, as he seeks to roll back what he regards as a bloated welfare state expanded by Gordon Brown during his tenure of the Treasury.Osborne is preparing to say that Brown’s policy decision to increase tax credits distorte