Two Croydon MPs have given their first reactions to George Osborne's apparent U-turn on cuts to working tax credits.
In today's autumn spending review, the Chancellor revealed he would scrap the controversial plans, which were expected to make 3.3m families on average £1,300 per year worse off.
The cuts were set to be introduced from April 2016, with families told to expect letters just before Christmas telling them how they would be affected.
Shortly after today’s announcement, Steve Reed, Labour MP for Croydon North, suggested pressure from his own party had forced Mr Osborne to abandon the plans.
He said: "Delighted to see Labour's campaign has forced the Chancellor into a humiliating u-turn on tax credits, but we now have to see who he targets for his cuts instead."
His words echoed those of shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who said: "I'm glad [Mr Osborne] has listened to Labour and seen sense."
The reversal, which will cost the Treasury £3.4bn, means Mr Osborne will break his own welfare spending cap, introduced in the last parliament.
But he defended the decision by pointing to an improvement in public finances, and the fact that separate tax credits were to be phased out anyway case as a result of introducing Universal Credit (UC).
UC is the Government's new system for delivering all benefits by one single payment, which the Department for Work and Pensions will roll out nationally by 2017.
Croydon is one of a number of boroughs in the country that has already begun to roll out UC.
It is as yet unclear how today's announcement will affect claimants of working tax credits in Croydon moving over to UC in the next two years.
Chris Philp, Conservative MP for Croydon South, voted in favour of the cuts after they were first revealed in July's budget.
Following the Chancellor's announcement today, Mr Philp said: "This is good news for working families. Higher wages in future years will mean tax credits naturally diminish."
Gavin Barwell, Conservative MP for Croydon Central, has been asked for comment.
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