<p><br /> A majority of voters believe child benefit payments to better-off families should be scrapped, a poll conducted ahead of next week's Budget has found.<br /> </p><p><br /> Chancellor George Osborne is expected to target tax credits and other middle-class benefits on Tuesday in what will be one of the harshest economic packages for decades.<br /> </p><p><br /> The Government's poverty adviser, Labour MP Frank Field, has said he is opposed to means-testing child benefit - which costs taxpayers around £11 billion a year.<br /> </p><p><br /> But a survey by ComRes for a Sunday newspaper found the public backed stripping them from wealthier families by 53 per cent to 42 per cent - including 47 per cent of Labour voters.<br /> </p><p><br /> The poll - which showed the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition partners making gains on Labour overall - found less support for removing winter fuel payments from better-off pensioners.<br /> </p><p><br /> It also pointed to potential flashpoints between the supporters of the two power-sharing parties over the need for deep public service cuts to deal with the UK's record £155 billion deficit.<br /> </p>
