Labour has pledged an "iron discipline" on welfare and spending cuts if it wins the next general election in 2015.

In a keynote speech on the UK economy by the Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls said that the party will deliver a "fairer approach" to cuts, with winter fuel subsidies for the richest pensioners being scrapped, affecting about 600,000 people and saving around £100m.

UK Chancellor George Osborne has said he has no more plans to cut the country's welfare budget under his austerity regime at the Treasury, as government departments face a further £11.5bn slash to their spending.

But Balls has criticised the government's economic policy, saying that if Labour assumed power they would face a "bleak inheritance" that needs a "tough deficit reduction plan".

Written and presented by Alfred Joyner