Despite his supposedly principled resignation, Duncan Smith's legacy is one of deep prejudice and stigma
As the dust settles on a weekend of vicious Tory infighting, we’re taking a few moments to reflect on the legacy of Iain Duncan Smith. Since 2010, one constant in a changing world has been that, on a quiet news day, you could always dig up something villainous going on at the Department of Work and Pensions.
From the archives, here are five of our favourite stories about IDS. They remind us that his sudden attack of conscience over Personal Independence Payments come after years of assaults on the poor, migrants, the disabled, the elderly and anyone else he could take a pot shot at.
Comment: Iain Duncan Smith is undoing years of struggle for disabled rights
“Speaking in the House of Commons, yesterday, the work and pensions secretary talked about getting disabled people in work up to the levels of ‘normal, non-disabled people’…”
IDS’s gradual criminalisation of poverty
“The mainstreaming of benefit sanctions and their extension to the working-poor is a grotesque interpretation of how social security should work. It treats those who need help as presumed guilty, not innocent. It is another example of the Tories ‘Hunger Games’ politics, seeking to divide the nation at every turn.”
Iain Duncan Smith says he’s going to stop benefit tourism. What benefit tourism?
“The Quiet Man is turning up the volume. We wish he wouldn’t.”
Why Iain Duncan Smith should resign
“Iain Duncan Smith seems to believe that the fact he once toured impoverished council estates in Glasgow gives him an understanding and level of compassion that none of his critics can possibly possess. But, the misery that his reforms have unleashed demonstrate that he is delusional. He has overseen a chaotic department that worsens the lives of the most vulnerable. Ministers have resigned for far less.”
A busy week at the Department for Work and Pensions
“Then there was the news today that the phone number claimants will need to call to access IDS’ new Universal Credit will be premium rate. That means it will cost callers at least 45 pence per minute to call from mobiles, and 12p a minute to call from landlines. These rates will be especially high for people who have ‘pay-as-you-go’ phones – top-ups typically used by people who cannot afford contracts.”
6 Responses to “So long, IDS. And good riddance.”
Myth of the 'pull factor' leaves migrants to drown in the Mediterranean | Left Foot Forward
[…] here’s where migration policy lines up with wefare reform. Just as the Iain Duncan Smiths of the world see poverty as a matter of bad behaviour, the architects of Operation Triton believe […]