COLCHESTER MP Bob Russell says he will not support any cuts in public spending put forward by the coalition Government.

Lib Dem Mr Russell described Chancellor George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review announcement as thoughtful, but said he and colleagues would either oppose or abstain from a vote to push the cuts through.

He said: “I didn’t come into politics to vote for spending cuts, so I’m not going to vote for this package.”

Mr Russell questioned Mr Osborne on the cutting of housing benefits.

He suggested councils could end up spending more, if people were made homeless and were put in emergency accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts.

Mr Osborne said he believed the changes would balance the needs of the taxpayers and those in receipt of housing benefit.

Colchester Council described the results of the review, which include an average annual 7.1 per cent reduction in council grants from the Government, as not as bad as feared.

The authority has already revealed it expects to shed about 100 posts and said reviews of all its services would help cut its expenditure.

Tim Young, leader of the council’s Labour group, described the review as hard to stomach.

He said: “Colchester Council will have to have another look at its budget.”

Clacton MP Douglas Carswell fears residents in his constituency could lose out.

Tory Mr Carswell said although there was no alternative to slashing spending, he would fight for frontline services.

The backbencher said it was important the Government did not try to fix the deficit at the expense of the most vulnerable people.

He said: “My fear is because we are on the end of a peninsula in Tendring, there might be an attempt to reconfigure public services that suits certain people but not local residents.

“The most important thing is there will be no cuts to the healthcare budget. The Government promised that and I will hold it to its word on it.

“My absolute priority is to make sure people, particularly old folk who spend all their lives paying into the system, get the public services they deserve.”

Finance bosses at Tendring Council say there will be no knee-jerk reaction to funding cuts.

It will find out exactly how much it gets from Government later this year, but has been bracing itself for cuts of up to 30 per cent.

More than £800,000 has been put in a war chest to bridge any gap when the cuts come in and a recruitment freeze has been put in place.