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Tories Tackle Austerity Protests With Pledges

Tories Tackle Austerity Protests With Pledges

Thousands of anti-austerity protesters are preparing to march through Manchester as the Conservative Party starts its conference in the city.

The self-styled 'People's Assembly' says the government's intention to cut tax credits would place the burden of reducing the budget deficit on the working poor.

The government says many of those affected would benefit from other changes to the welfare system including 30 hours of free childcare for working families.

Protest organiser Sam Duckworth told Sky News: "There seem to be tax breaks for millionaires, inheritance tax (and) corporation tax breaks.

"But frontline benefits like housing and child benefits - anything that's supposed to be for the good of the people - seem to be the first things that are cut," he said.

Chancellor George Osborne has tried to cauterise such criticism with a new initiative to help older people share in the rearing of their grandchildren.

He said: "An increasing number of parents also want to remain in work themselves. Research shows that two million grandparents have either given up a job, reduced their hours or taken time off work to take care of their grandchildren."

The chancellor insisted: "We will work with employers to make sure we introduce this as soon as possible. It is an important opportunity for employers who want to retain older members of their workforce."

The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have all proposed variations of sharing parental leave to make the system more flexible.

The current structure was brought in by the coalition government in April this year allowing a couple to divide up a total of 50 weeks of parental leave.

But there is some unease within the party over George Osborne's plans to cut tax credits; even potential leadership rival Boris Johnson fears its introduction may be too severe.

As well as welfare, there may also be splits over the potential of airstrikes in Syria and Europe: there could be echoes of the last conference following a Tory majority election victory in 1992 when there was open cabinet warfare over the Maastricht treaty.

One of the more interesting parlour games may be the unspoken tussle to replace David Cameron at the next election as leader of the party before the next election.

The former London mayor is said to be a contender as is Mr Osborne and Home Secretary Theresa May.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the Prime Minister said he expects to increase support for the Conservative party to levels not seen since the heights of Margaret Thatcher.