UK's Osborne defends Budget; pays tribute to Duncan Smith

British Finance Minister George Osborne appeared before parliament to defend his controversial annual Budget and confirmed that he was dropping £4.4bn in planned cuts to disability payments.

He praised former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith who resigned last Friday in protest over the reforms, which he claimed were unfair and threatened to divide society.

Osborne said he had been proud to work with Duncan Smith and expressed regret at his resignation.

The very public departure of Duncan Smith widened the already deep divisions within government caused by the upcoming referendum on Britain's European Union membership. The former Work and Pensions Secretary is a high-profile eurosceptic who will campaign for Britain to leave in the June 23 poll.

The finance minister does not normally appear in the closing stages of debates on the Budget - formally known as the Finance Bill. Osborne was be the first in 20 years to appear in the House of Commons chamber in what could be viewed as an attempt to save his career.

Osborne said the Budget was one of a "compassionate, one-nation Conservative government determined to deliver both social justice and economic security".

"We know that those who suffer most when Britain loses control of its public finances and the economy crashes aren't the best off but the poorest and the most vulnerable," he said.

"There is not some inherent conflict between delivering social justice and the savings required to deliver sound public finances," he said. "There are one and same thing. Without some public finances there is no social justice."

Osborne has been battered by controversy since delivering the Budget. He was forced to admit he had missed his debt reduction targets, was accused of "shuffling" numbers to make his surplus forecasts add up and then had to endure a very public knifing by Duncan Smith when he quit the government.

On Monday he was accused of cowardice for failing to come to parliament himself to announce his climb down on the welfare cuts, sending a junior minister instead.