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A benefits chief likened to notorious League of Gentlemen character Pauline has unleashed fury after praising managers who pinned up Wild West-style “sheriff stars” encouraging staff to leave the unemployed penniless.
Central England Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) boss Sandra Lambert’s cheerful Twitter post celebrated the “Texas twist” used in Birmingham and Solihull to browbeat employees into sanctioning claimants.
Among the categories depicted by a sheriff’s badge was the rate at which decisions were taken to pull the plug on benefits for those deemed to have “refused employment.”
Labour will find increases in the state pension age are unacceptable, just as cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance, personal independence payments and universal credit are — it needs to change direction immediately, writes PCS general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE
