Archive: Benefits

Budget 2012: Alarm growing after Osborne's welfare cuts warning

Poorest could lose £10 a day as a result of further £10bn welfare bill cuts

Campaigners are reeling after George Osborne raised the prospect of an extra £10 billion of welfare cuts in his Budget statement yesterday.

'Middle class welfare' under fire

Welfare reform vision unveiled

IDS laments 'tragic' welfare state

Welfare reform: Don't expect much fight from the Lords

Benefit cap resistance likely to be dampened through nine-month grace period

Reading this blogpost is going to be a painful experience for opponents of the government's welfare reforms - especially those that read my observations on the theoretical possibilities about resistance in the Lords last week.

comments

Resorting to the rulebook: Ministers bypass welfare clash

Iain Duncan Smith won't back down on welfare reform

Ministers are using parliamentary rules to prevent the Lords causing further setbacks to the coalition's welfare reforms.

comments

Coalition turns fire on Labour after benefit cap defeat

Lords handed government fourth defeat in welfare reform bill last night

The government is going on the offensive after its benefit cap defeat last night, attacking Labour and vowing to reverse the changes.

comments

Coalition open to child benefit change

The dog isn't eligible for anything at all

March's Budget could see controversial child benefit measures which punish single families tweaked by the coalition.

comments

Extra immigrants 'don't push up benefits bill'

Benefits bill not affected by higher immigration levels

Increased immigration does not cause the taxpayers' benefits bill to go up, fresh research has suggested.

comments

Childcare boost to benefit 80k more families

A further £300 million is to be spent on childcare, ministers have announced.

comments

Jobseekers 'should work harder for benefits'

Thinktank wants to make jobseekers' lives harder

Benefit claimants should have to earn a number of points for completing jobseeking activities before receiving their allowance, a thinktank has proposed.

comments

Labour and Tory welfare systems 'cause resentment'

A little on top: Work credits are misunderstood, experts say.

Labour and Conservative benefit systems designed to 'make work pay' often leave recipients feeling aggrieved and resentful, according to new research.

comments

All rioters could face benefits removal

The backlash continues after last week's looting and rioting

The government is considering stepping in to strip all those convicted of involvement in last week's riots of their benefits.

comments

Ed Miliband responsibility speech in full

Miliband: 'We did too little to ensure responsibility at the bottom'

Read Ed Miliband's speech on responsibility in full, on politics.co.uk.

comments

Analysis: Hidden dangers of the coalition's welfare reforms

Destitution as a tool of public policy has its critics

Benefit claimants will be on the receiving end of more stick than carrot under current plans. Time is running out for campaigners.

comments

Govt rules out U-turn on benefit cap

Reports suggest the welfare secretary is more lukewarm towards a benefits cap than the chancellor.

Rumours that the government was preparing to U-turn on plans to cap benefit payments were rebutted by Downing Street today.

comments

Govt highlights fit-to-work benefit scroungers

Three-quarters were found to be fit to work or dropped their claim before their medical

Nearly four out of ten people applying for a key sickness benefit were found fit to work, official figures show.

IDS: Poor people 'worse off' with more money

Iain Duncan Smith said Labour had been 'fixated' on income.

Poor people's lives do not improve with state handouts, Iain Duncan Smith has claimed.

Scrapping child trust fund a 'backward step'

The payments will stop altogether on New Year's Day

The abolition of the child trust fund will deprive tens of thousands of children of a "vital nest egg", a thinktank has argued.

IDS: No exceptions for benefits sanctions

Benefits sanctions won't spare parents, IDS says

Parents will not be spared the requirement to work to continue to receive parents, Iain Duncan Smith has insisted.

Child benefit: Threat of 'penalties'

Higher-rate taxpayers face penalties if they fail to satisfy the Treasury

Higher-rate taxpayers could find themselves facing fines if their partner receives child benefit and doesn't inform the government.

Hughes draws a line in the sand

Tough choices: Hughes is not comfortable with plans on housing benefit

Simon Hughes has drawn a line in the sand on the row over the spending review, saying Lib Dems would vote against changes to housing benefit unless there are major changes.

On yer bus, IDS tells jobless

On your bus!: IDS' unfortunate anecdote raised the spectre of Norman Tebbit

Iain Duncan Smith has raised the spectre of Norman Tebbit's infamous "on yer bike" moment, by suggesting that people make greater efforts to travel to find work.