Welfare
Nick ‘the fibber’ Clegg faces the fibbed-to
Trying out new career options on LBC this morning, Nick Clegg inadvertently illustrated several serious political truths. A caller claimed to have been a member of the ‘Liberal Democrat’ party… Continue reading
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Tories make hay with Labour’s welfare stance
The Welfare Uprating Bill won’t fall into difficulty when it has its second reading in the Commons today, but with around five Lib Dem MPs expected to vote against or… Continue reading
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In a preview of David Cameron’s 2013, Europe dominates his New Year interview
David Cameron’s New Year interview on Marr was dominated not by the economy but by Europe. In a sign of what the promise of a speech setting out his European… Continue reading
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Briefing: Means-testing Child Benefit
George Osborne’s removal of child benefit from high-earners kicks in on Monday, but what exactly does it entail? Who loses what? Initially, Osborne’s plan was ‘to remove child benefit from… Continue reading
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The next Labour welfare policy?
As he was selling his party’s plan for a jobs guarantee on the airwaves today, Liam Byrne made a passing reference to something that could form another part of Labour’s… Continue reading
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Labour revisits old welfare ghosts with its jobs guarantee
Dig out the bunting, fly the red flags in celebration, for finally we have a policy from the Labour party. Ed Miliband promised that 2013 would be the year he’d… Continue reading
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The winter fuel payment silliness continues
On the subject of welfare, while the Lords debates whether a disabled person who can walk further than the length of a cricket pitch is allowed help with their transport… Continue reading
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Government could face another welfare rebellion in the Lords
Remember those rebellions in the Lords on welfare earlier this year? Well, the fight hasn’t disappeared entirely from the Upper Chamber. Secondary legislation filling in the detail of the Welfare… Continue reading
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Iain Duncan Smith doesn’t support a welfare cash card
Those nasty Tories, they’re at it again. Now they’re trying to stigmatise benefit claimants by giving them special welfare cash cards so they can’t buy booze or cigarettes with their… Continue reading
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Is this the nastiest Conservative MP in Britain?
Despite strong competition, Alec Shelbrooke is the new front-runner for the coveted title of Nastiest, Most Stupid Tory MP 2012. Here’s what he proposes: Mr Shelbrooke has drafted a Bill… Continue reading
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The Tories mustn’t make another silly pledge on benefits in 2015
As the country approaches a general election, a party leader, desperate to reassure a key group of voters, makes a very silly pledge. He is as unequivocal as possible that,… Continue reading
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Shapps’ campaign skirmish
There’s long been a sense on the Tory side that the party’s campaigning isn’t as sharp as it should be, that CCHQ isn’t up to the job. The Ashcroft target… Continue reading
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Ed Miliband vs the working class
Who’s on the side of the strivers? Is it George Osborne, who’s cutting benefits in real terms for the next three years, which he defends as ‘being fair to the… Continue reading
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Why Ed Balls is so confident about benefit wars
The debate over benefit uprating will run and run because both sides think they are winning. George Osborne thinks the public resent generous benefits rises. Liam Byrne and Ed Balls… Continue reading
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Liam Byrne interview: The welfare system is ‘completely out of whack’
Liam Byrne is a modernising, Blairite Labour MP, and in case you were in any doubt about that, he conducts his interview with Coffee House sitting next to a framed… Continue reading
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The only Labour business supporter that Chuka Umunna can name is a Labour peer
Chuka Umunna’s interview on The Sunday Politics today highlighted several of the problems facing the Labour party. When Andrew Neil pressed him on whether he could name any heads of… Continue reading
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Will he, won’t he? Ed Miliband makes noises about benefits war
Ed Miliband is ready to wage war with David Cameron and George Osborne over the Welfare Uprating Bill, which will see benefits rise by 1 per cent a year, rather… Continue reading
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A budget for the squeezed middle
Ed Miliband may have coined the term, but it seems George Osborne has the squeezed middle on his mind too. The overall effect of yesterday’s budget* was to take from… Continue reading
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The strivers vs scroungers battleground
Welfare will be one of the key battlegrounds at the next general election, and George Osborne’s Welfare Uprating Bill will certainly be one way the Conservative party can prod Labour… Continue reading
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Labour aims to change political dynamic around benefits uprating
It now looks almost certain that Labour will vote against the 1 per cent uprating for most working age benefits. Labour is pointing out that because this also includes tax… Continue reading
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