Latest editorial
Parliamentary reporter @TrinderMatt
YOUNG people have led a “staggering” surge in new benefit claims during the Covid-19 pandemic, a devastating new study revealed today.
Analysis of official figures by the Resolution Foundation found that the increase had contributed to a partial reversal in the decades-long decline in new applications.
Nearly two-thirds of the population (64 per cent) are now living in a household receiving state support, up two percentage points from the pre-pandemic total in February 2020.
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
MPs back measure for 66-year-olds but it won't end suffering, groups say
Campaigners urge government to ignore profiteering oil lobbyists and help those hit hardest by rising energy prices
DYLAN MURPHY reports that far from helping people back into work, the sanctions regime is inflicting unnecessary trauma on working-class families