Latest editorial
HOLYROOD backbenchers demanded a review yesterday of the Con-Dems’ savage sanctions for benefit claimants.
Harsh new rules ushered in by Tory Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith threaten jobseekers with 16-week benefits suspensions for reasons ranging from leaving a job voluntarily to failing to attend an interview with as little as 24 hours’ notice.
Scottish parliament welfare reform committee convenor Michael McMahon slammed the scheme as “broken” as he launched a report recommending an overhaul.
As a proportion of GDP the total welfare bill is lower than it was 15 years ago. The claim that it is spiralling out of control is mythmaking, argues DIANE ABBOTT
The government’s Pip review looks like a carefully managed exercise in legitimising future cuts to disability support, argues Dr DYLAN MURPHY
DYLAN MURPHY reports that far from helping people back into work, the sanctions regime is inflicting unnecessary trauma on working-class families