Osborne out to woo the workers George Osborne will claim on Wednesday that he is protecting the "strivers" of Middle Britain from the fiscal storm, in a highly political Autumn Statement that will squeeze the rich, the unemployed, civil servants and "tax-dodging" multinationals. The chancellor's decision to align himself with working families - key swing voters - is an attempt to repair some of the public relations damage caused by his last Budget, with its taxes on caravans and pasties. Mr Osborne's most visible popular gesture is expected to be a freeze on the 3p-a-litre increase in fuel duty planned for January, following other government moves to simplify domestic energy tariffs and hold down rail fares. Labour will argue that Middle Britain is already being squeezed heavily by cuts to tax credits, child benefit changes and reductions in a host of in-work benefits. But Mr Osborne knows that symbolism matters in politics. The most noticeable revenue-raising measures in the Autumn Statement are expected to fall on those groups that Middle Britain may view with the least sympathy - putting Mr Osborne's political priorities up in lights. Working-age benefits are expected to be cut in real terms next April - breaking a traditional link with inflation - as Mr Osborne taps into public frustration with support for the jobless. He signalled his thinking at the Conservative party conference in October when he said it was unfair for a family to be "living a life on benefits" with their "blinds down." David Cameron has spoken of siding with "those who work hard to get on in life." Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, appears to have headed off some of Mr Osborne's more radical ideas, such as withholding housing benefit from the under-25s or restricting welfare for those with more than two children. To meet his targets on closing the deficit, the chancellor needs to make a further £10bn of welfare savings after the next election, but he intends to balance the pain by imposing a further squeeze on the wealthy. Mr Cameron has blocked a "mansion tax" on expensive properties, leaving Mr Osborne to focus on pensions instead. The tax-free allowance on annual pension contributions is expected to be cut from £50,000 to £40,000 or even £30,000. Pensions experts say hospital consultants, head teachers and other senior public-sector workers in final-salary pension plans could be hit, but Mr Osborne's team argues that pension tax relief is heavily skewed to the richest. Meanwhile, Mr Osborne wants Whitehall to learn from the job-slashing programme carried out at Michael Gove's education department, where half of administration costs and 1,000 jobs have been cut. The chancellor also looks set to challenge EU law by announcing a crackdown on tax avoidance by public contractors - something his cabinet colleagues believe could break competition rules. Danny Alexander, the Treasury chief secretary, has been working on a new procurement system that he says will "prevent the very small minority of firms that don't play by the rules from winning government contracts." The issue has come to the fore after the revelations about tax avoidance by big businesses such as Amazon, Starbucks and Google, which prompted Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Commons public accounts committee, to call for a ban on tax avoiding companies winning state contracts. The coalition was hoping to announce reforms to make childcare cheaper - something ministers have identified as a key issue for bringing down the overall cost of living for families. Mr Clegg is pushing for an extension of free childcare for certain groups beyond the 15 hours currently provided, but this has not made it into Mr Osborne's speech.