Iain Duncan Smith
DWP admits more lies and misdeeds re fake psych ‘test’
There has been considerable furore over the fake psychometric ‘test’ the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been forcing jobseekers to use under the threat of ‘sanction’ (immediate loss of benefits) since I revealed it in April and the Guardian newspaper published its own account of the story at the beginning of May.
Five things the coalition won’t tell you about Universal Credit
The professed aim of the introduction of Universal Credit is to boost the personal responsibility of claimants, smooth the passage to work and prepare out-of-work claimants for their next job. There are a number of problems with Universal Credit, however - problems which haven't been given anywhere near the amount of coverage by the press that they warrant.
Just how many families are there where three generations have ‘never worked’?
In seeking to justify the government's reforms to the benefits system, Iain Duncan Smith has previously claimed that there exists a situation in Britain where "three generations of the same family have [often] never worked". However all the the evidence shows what an insignificant problem "three generations of out-of-work families" are in the grand scheme of things.
How about we stick Cameron’s entire cabinet on £53 a week
Sticking Cameron’s cabinet on £53 a week would in itself be a stunt. But in the age of rich public school boys being parachuted into safe seats without having any experience of life outside Westminster - the struggle for jobs and daily budgets far more demanding than anything Osborne has had to get his head around – it might just be a necessary wakeup call.
How fair are changes to the benefits system?
To get an idea of just how fair the changes to the tax and welfare system are, Left Foot Forward have compiled a quick overview of some the changes and given them each a fairness score out of 10.
Welfare reforms are cementing social tenants at the bottom of the economic pile
The picture emerging is one where social tenants are bearing the brunt of welfare reform and worsening austerity. This doesn’t quite gel with the chancellor Osborne’s claim that ‘we’re all in it together’.