John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has put out a statement calling for a rethink of George Osborne’s entire economic strategy. He said:

Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation must now provoke an urgent rethinking of George Osborne’s failing economic policy.

The cuts that George Osborne is inflicting on some of the most vulnerable in our society are not only cruel but unnecessary. As the former secretary of state alluded to in his resignation letter, these cuts are a needless attempt by this chancellor to meet his own nonsensical fiscal rules.

To take up to £150 a week from disabled people is a chilling example of the lengths George Osborne is willing to go to in placing his own political career and fiscal rules ahead of the long term good of our nation.

Labour have offered to work with the government to revise their failed approach and instead ensure we have a fiscal policy that is fair, sustainable and shares the wealth more equally within our society.

Labour’s fiscal credibility rule, developed in consultation with world leading economists offers a framework through which we can eliminate the deficit fairly, avoiding the counter-productive, needless and cruel cuts we have seen under this government.