Welfare Reform

Worklessness Is Driven by Decayed Job Markets, Not the People Out of Work

Chris Goulden | Posted 21.05.2013 | UK Politics
Chris Goulden

Statistics brought together by the Centre for Social Justice in their press release today show that in the UK there are 6.8m people living in homes where no-one has a job. There are major concentrations of worklessness in some areas of Wales and Birmingham, for example. This scale and the inequality are clearly matters of deep concern.

The Reality of the Welfare Reform

Stef Benstead | Posted 20.05.2013 | UK Politics
Stef Benstead

I'm seeing the problem now; I know people who are struggling; I'm seeing what happens when there isn't enough money and there isn't enough health. I'm seeing the despair... People have ended their lives. People are going without food and medicine. People are becoming homeless. And this is because of the changes this government is making.

Mairead Philpott To Appeal Against 17 Year Sentence

PA/The Huffington Post UK | Posted 19.05.2013 | UK

Mairead Philpott, jailed for 17 years for killing her six children in a house fire, is to appeal against the length of her sentence, her lawyer has sa...

Ritual, Gesture and the Boston Bomber's Burial

Jeffrey Gedmin | Posted 13.05.2013 | UK
Jeffrey Gedmin

An anonymous source has finally stepped forward and offered an unmarked grave in Virginia so that Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body could be put to rest. But the entire episode is a powerful reminder of the importance of ritual and gestures, even in an era where we'd like to think that cold facts, data, and rationality always carry the day.

It's Clear Who Is the Hardest Hit - Disabled People

Dr Simon Duffy | Posted 10.05.2013 | UK Politics
Dr Simon Duffy

There can be no doubt who is the hardest hit by the cuts - it's disabled people (and that includes many of our children, our parents and our grandparents). Again the question must be asked - did the government know what it was doing when it focused the cuts on social care and benefits - or is this just some thoughtless accident?

Iain Duncan Smith Officially Rebuked For Making False Benefit Cap Claim

The Huffington Post UK | Ned Simons | Posted 09.05.2013 | UK Politics

Iain Duncan Smith has been rebuked for falsely claiming the coalition's controversial benefits cap had already caused 8,000 people to move into jobs. ...

Is Work Not Incentive Enough?

Sam Larcombe | Posted 06.05.2013 | UK Politics
Sam Larcombe

Work as an incentive to move off benefits should be immeasurable and driven by a desire to unburden society and fend for oneself. In a nutshell to give oneself dignity and pride. In general our society has no regard such notions because people feel they have a right to welfare money, it is their money, to which they are entitled.

Universal Credit Where Credit Is Due?

Dave Clements | Posted 06.05.2013 | UK Politics
Dave Clements

On Monday 29 April the 'revolution' began. The government's Universal Credit Scheme designed both to simplify the benefits system and disincentivise dependency on it began... in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Welfare Reform: It Could Have Been Good

Stef Benstead | Posted 28.04.2013 | UK Politics
Stef Benstead

It's such a shame. There was a wonderful opportunity to make something that worked. To get rid of what was failing and bring in new things that improved on the original. To end the mess and confusion. To repair the holes. Instead we have more holes. Bigger holes. Holes in places that used to work.

Social Housing Association Compels Tenants To Sign Up To 'Ambition Plan'

Huffington Post UK | Felicity Morse | Posted 27.04.2013 | UK

A housing association which compels residents to sign up to an ‘ambition plan’ when they apply for tenancy has been criticised for being patronisi...

Disabled Campaigners Lose High Court Battle

PA | Posted 24.04.2013 | UK

Five disabled people have lost their High Court challenge over the government's decision to abolish a scheme that helps them live independently. Th...

Felicity A Morse

Demand For Food Banks Goes Up Five-Fold Under Coalition

HuffingtonPost.com | Felicity A Morse | Posted 24.04.2013 | UK

The number of people using food banks has increased five-fold since the coalition came to power, and nearly tripled over the last year, with almost 35...

Benefit Cuts 'Targeting Most Deprived Areas'

PA/The Huffington Post UK | Posted 23.04.2013 | UK Politics

The government's welfare reforms will see as much as £850 taken away from individual residents in some of the most deprived areas of the country, Lab...

Why Is Social Care Facing the Deepest Cuts?

Dr Simon Duffy | Posted 21.04.2013 | UK Politics
Dr Simon Duffy

Few people realise that social care will be cut by 33% by 2015 and on current projections will be cut by 50% by 2018. This is the deepest cut to any part of the welfare state since its creation and yet it is going entirely unnoticed. How has this happened?

Benefit Reform 'Will Push More Children Into Poverty' Says Bishop

PA/The Huffington Post UK | Posted 20.04.2013 | UK

A bishop has spoken of his "deep concern" over plans to change the benefits system, warning they will push more children into poverty and saying that ...

Disabled Man Takes His Own Life After Benefits Stopped

Huffington Post UK | Felicity Morse | Posted 20.04.2013 | UK

A man took his own life after worrying about how he would survive after his benefits were stopped, a coroner has said. Nicholas Barker, a former fa...

The Bedroom Tax Will Lead to the Further Impoverishment of Vision Impaired People

Tom Pey | Posted 17.04.2013 | UK Politics
Tom Pey

New research by national sight loss charity RNIB has revealed that 17,000 vision impaired people of working age look set to be displaced from their homes as a result of the Bedroom Tax. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, they will have to choose between relocating or losing a portion of their benefits (which will be on average £14 a week; a sizeable sum when you are already struggling to make ends meet).

Perfidious Albion: Lies, Poverty And The Welfare Cap

Mohammed Ansar | Posted 15.04.2013 | UK Politics
Mohammed Ansar

The coalition government knows that their benefit cap which comes into force this week, is going to crush ethnic minority families and force them out of the cities and into ghettos.

'Go After Landlords, Don't Turf Families Onto The Street'

PA/The Huffington Post UK | Posted 15.04.2013 | UK

David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, has urged the government to "go after the landlords" instead of bringing in a benefits cap that he says would see famil...

Labour's 'Angry Brigade' Shouldn't Dismiss Tony Blair

Robert Philpot | Posted 12.04.2013 | UK Politics
Robert Philpot

Labour's 'angry brigade' has misunderstood Blair's message which is simply: don't let red mist cloud your judgement. Rather than getting angry with the Tories, get even with them. And, on this, Blair is right: Labour needs to be in the business of the politics of answers, not simply the politics of anger.

Who Are the People on Benefits?

Anastasia Richardson | Posted 11.04.2013 | UK Universities & Education
Anastasia Richardson

So who are the people on benefits, really? The answer actually seems to be most of us. 64% of families, and about 30million individual people - half the total population of the UK. The people on benefits are our friends, colleagues and neighbours, our families, ourselves.

Welfare Myth Three - The Poor Don't Pay Taxes

Dr Simon Duffy | Posted 11.04.2013 | UK Politics
Dr Simon Duffy

A common rhetorical trick for politicians is to talk about 'looking after the tax payer'. However the reality is that they are often only really concerned with particular tax payers - the electoral groups that determine the outcomes of elections - often people on middle-incomes.

Will Banning Payday Lenders Really Prevent Debt?

Nash Riggins | Posted 10.04.2013 | UK Universities & Education
Nash Riggins

In the long-term, there really aren't many benefits where payday lenders are concerned, and the government should indeed do more to regulate their shady practices; however, the fact of the matter is that payday lenders are all some people have to get by right now.

You Can't Blame Welfare for Everything

William Davie | Posted 09.04.2013 | UK Universities & Education
William Davie

There are problems with the welfare system in the UK. Nobody is saying that there are not. There are some people who see it as a meal ticket which saves them from having to do some real work, but they are not the majority.

Forget the Poor - Our Politicians are Wasting Away

Nash Riggins | Posted 09.04.2013 | UK Universities & Education
Nash Riggins

Perhaps instead of complaining, MPs should be a little more proactive when it comes to their mealtimes; after all, London may be an expensive city, but it's not hard to find affordable meals. It took me all of 20 seconds to find 118 restaurants within a stone's throw of Parliament that offer a wide range of two-course meals - complete with free delivery - all for under £15