A tough new limit is to be imposed on the total amount of welfare payments received by families in the UK, Chancellor George Osborne has said.
Speaking to the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Mr Osborne did not put a figure on the new welfare cap, but said that - with the exception of the disabled - no family will receive more in benefits than the average family receives from going out to work.
The announcement came as Mr Osborne also announced that he will withdraw child benefit from families where one parent earns enough to pay higher-rate tax - currently about £44,000.
Mr Osborne said he hoped for a "reinvigorated, prosperous, united Britain" as the prize for tackling the deficit.
In his speech to the Conservative Party conference, Mr Osborne said Prime Minister David Cameron's action in forming a strong coalition government pulled the country "back from the edge of the economic abyss".
Setting out why cuts in public spending would be necessary to reduce the deficit, Mr Osborne told party activists that Labour had left the country "on the brink of bankruptcy".
Mr Osborne told the conference in Birmingham: "I come with good news and bad news.
"The good news is that we are in government after 13 years of a disastrous Labour administration that brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy.
"The bad news: we are in government after 13 years of a disastrous Labour administration that brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy."
With the comprehensive spending review due later this month Mr Osborne said: "Today I want to explain to the British people why we have to sort out the public finances, how we will do it and the prize at the end: a reinvigorated, prosperous, united Britain of which we can all be proud."
A tough new limit is to be imposed on the total amount of welfare payments received by families in the UK, Chancellor George Osborne has said.
Speaking to the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Mr Osborne did not put a figure on the new welfare cap, but said that - with the exception of the disabled - no family will receive more in benefits than the average family receives from going out to work.
The announcement came as Mr Osborne also announced that he will withdraw child benefit from families where one parent earns enough to pay higher-rate tax - currently about £44,000.
Mr Osborne said he hoped for a "reinvigorated, prosperous, united Britain" as the prize for tackling the deficit.
In his speech to the Conservative Party conference, Mr Osborne said Prime Minister David Cameron's action in forming a strong coalition government pulled the country "back from the edge of the economic abyss".
Setting out why cuts in public spending would be necessary to reduce the deficit, Mr Osborne told party activists that Labour had left the country "on the brink of bankruptcy".
Mr Osborne told the conference in Birmingham: "I come with good news and bad news.
"The good news is that we are in government after 13 years of a disastrous Labour administration that brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy.
"The bad news: we are in government after 13 years of a disastrous Labour administration that brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy."
With the comprehensive spending review due later this month Mr Osborne said: "Today I want to explain to the British people why we have to sort out the public finances, how we will do it and the prize at the end: a reinvigorated, prosperous, united Britain of which we can all be proud."