TORY welfare axeman Iain Duncan Smith claimed yesterday that tax credits were a “bribe” to the poor and branded protesters “vile.”

The millionaire Work and Pensions Secretary shamelessly defended plans to slash the incomes of working families by £1,300 in a speech to his party’s conference.

He complained that too many low-paid workers and poor families are claiming tax credits, which were designed to keep them above the poverty line.

“A staggering nine out of 10 families with children in Britain were eligible for tax credits,” he said.

“That is not a benefit system worth the name. That becomes a bribe.”

His speech came on the day that official figures revealed that the proportion of households without work had fallen by 5 per cent over the last five years.

“This tells you all you need to know about the incredible success of tax credits in making work pay and supporting childcare costs,” said TUC secretary Frances O’Grady.

But Mr Duncan Smith also attacked sickness benefit, suggesting that it had left people “victims to be sustained on government handouts.”

And in an off-script finale, he stepped out from the podium to launch a tirade against “vile and horrid” anti-austerity protesters.

People’s Assembly national secretary Sam Fairbairn said that Mr Duncan Smith should “look at the effects of his own policies before accusing people of violence.

“He’s presided over sanctions to benefits leading to the death of over 4,000 people.

“It’s this government who are violent — not the people fighting for a society run in the interests of the majority.”