Look Left – ’AV it! Referendum campaign gets into full swing
After months of shadow boxing, the campaign proper kicked off this week as the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill finally received Royal Assent.
Search Results for Universal Credit
How the ‘jilted generation’ is paying for coalition’s cuts
More than 2,000 young people from across the country, including from the Prime Minister’s own constituency of Witney in Oxfordshire, have signed a letter to David Cameron to be published today, calling for the government to think again on its planned cuts to youth provision and support.
Who’d have thought it – ‘real’ welfare is working
Is Britain really broken? New findings suggest that the growth of so called ‘welfare dependency’ may be massively overstated, reports Daisy Blacklock.
IDS dodges questions on DWP statistics
IDS has dodged questions from Left Foot Forward regarding the misuse of DWP statistics.
Clegg’s housing headache
A lib dem rebellion on housing benefit proposals is brewing – with both Bob Russell MP and Simon Hughes leading the charge.
London and Scotland lead the way as Britain’s jobless league soars
The GMB has uncovered shocking evidence of the damage caused by the coalition’s cuts, with a national average of 2.6 claimants for every job vacancy. This is a situation that is likely to get worse as the sacking of 500,000 public sector workers begins to bite harder in 2011.
A defence of the Future Jobs Fund: Where now for the young employed?
Dan Smith highlights the impacts of the Future Jobs Fund in Brighton and Hove, arguing it has proved cost effective, helping long-term claimants off benefits.
Look Left – Cameron adviser resigns after “disgraceful” remarks
David Cameron’s enterprise adviser Lord Young resigned today after saying people were better off after the recession. Young had told the Telegraph: “For the vast majority of people in the country today, they have never had it so good ever since this recession – this so-called recession – started.” Labour leader Ed Miliband described the remarks as “disgraceful” and said people would feel “insulted” by his comments.
Look Left – Real issues lost amidst the madness
The violent rage of a small minority overshadowed the quiet anger of the many as protests against the government’s education cuts turned toxic this week. Fourteen people were injured and there were 50 arrests following the attack on the Tories’ Millbank HQ on Wednesday, after a peaceful demonstration which saw 50,000 students march on Westminster demanding a rethink of plans to treble tuition fees and slash higher education funding. The violence was immediately condemned by the National Union of Students, NUS President Aaron Porter calling it “despicable”.
Clegg’s dubious jobs claim
Nick Clegg writes in today’s Guardian about welfare reform. But his claims on jobs, incentives for work, the welfare bill, and poverty do not stack up.