Jeremy Hunt has been accused of insulting British workers after he said the Government was right to press ahead with cuts to tax credits because it will teach people to work as hard as the Chinese and Americans.
He said the changes, which will be accompanied by a new living wage, are a “very important cultural signal” and would help the UK become “one of the most successful countries in the world”.
Labour said Mr Hunt’s comments were “patronising” and a “kick in the teeth for working families”, while trade unions also hit out at the “outrageous slur”, saying it contradicted George Osborne’s claim to be the “true party of labour”.
The Health Secretary, who is the richest member of the Cabinet, strayed from his brief as he defended the Government’s decision to cut the £4.5bn a year benefit at a fringe event at the Conservative party conference.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that even taking into consideration the boost in the minimum wage, the changes will cost three million families £1,350 a year.
But Mr Hunt insisted it was not all about money and said it was about changing attitudes to work.
“We have to proceed with these tax credit changes because they are a very important cultural signal,” he told a fringe event hosted by The Times.
"My wife is Chinese. We want this to be one of the most successful countries in the world in 20, 30, 40 years’ time.
“There’s a pretty difficult question that we have to answer, which is essentially: are we going to be a country which is prepared to work hard in the way that Asian economies are prepared to work hard, in the way that Americans are prepared to work hard? And that is about creating a culture where work is at the heart of our success.”
Mr Hunt also suggested tax credit claimants had less self-respect because they did not earn the money themselves.
He said: "The difference if you’re talking about people on low incomes is the Conservative insight is that dignity is not just about how much money we’ve got.
“The poverty line, according to the ONS, officially children are growing up in poverty if there is an income in that family of less than £16,500 – that’s what the ONS said. But what Conservatives say is: how that £16,500 is earned matters.
“It matters if you are earning that yourself, because if you’re earning it yourself you are independent and that is the first step towards self-respect and of course you have the potential to increase it.”
He added: “If that £16,500 is either a high proportion or entirely through the benefit system you are trapped. It is about pathways to work, pathways to independence.... It is about creating a pathway to independence, self-respect and dignity.”
Responding to the comments, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith said: “The Government’s tax credit changes do send a signal and we get the message loud and clear – if you are in work and on low to medium pay the Tories are not on your side.
“It is a kick in the teeth for working families to hear Jeremy Hunt patronisingly say that the reason they are struggling to pay the bills is because they are not working hard enough. When the truth is his government is ruining family finances right across Britain.
“Labour has warned time and again that these tax credit cuts will hurt millions of ordinary working people, yet the Tories are digging their heels in. It’s not too late to change course and Labour will be fighting these cuts to tax credits the whole way.”
General Secretary Len McCluskey said the comments “put paid once and for all the Tories’ ludicrous claims to represent hardworking families”.
“This is a disgraceful insult from the richest member of the cabinet to millions of people struggling to get by working hard for long hours in insecure employment,” he added.
“In a country that already works some of the longest hours in the western world, these comments are simply an outrageous slur on the all too many workers juggling two and three jobs to put food on the table and a roof over their kids’ heads.
“He should get his facts straight before he decides to kick this country’s working people firmly in the teeth.”
