Cameron 'sorry' about child benefit cut

Prime Minister David Cameron has apologised for failing to warn voters about cutting child benefits for a million families, a shock move that even some of his party colleagues have called brutal.

The idea of taking an axe to the welfare state had appealed to many Conservatives, but the change to child benefits broke pre-election pledges and means some of the centre-right party's core voters will be worse off when it is introduced in 2013.

Removing payments from wealthier parents will save £1 billion, only a fraction of what is required to cut a record budget deficit of around £150 billion. It is designed to prepare voters for years of austerity.

It comes ahead of the Conservative leader's closing speech to his party's conference, which will be his first as prime minister.

Mr Cameron is expected to draw a line under the benefits controversy by offering a robust defence of the need to share the pain of cutting the deficit.

At the same time he will try to reflect the growing demands in his party at this conference not to ape Labour's definition of fairness, based on monetary transfers, but instead to develop a new, broader interpretation.