COUNCILLOR Jones' congratulation of the Chancellor's autumn statement as "excellent news for hard working people" is premature to say the least about a document that plans to place the greatest burden for cuts on people dependent on benefits (Guardian, December 10).

This seems guaranteed to increase the plight of the vulnerable children and their families so recently highlighted in your recent reports. Many of these people are hard working but are being punished for a problem not of their own making.

Cutting public spending on the scale proposed by the otherwise pragmatic Mr Osborne seems guaranteed to stifle the growth needed to sustain the revenue streams required to balance the books.

Paul Thomson Knutsford