Let us be clear what the Tory welfare bill will mean. If the parents of more than two children are precipitated into claiming benefits through a change in circumstances, like redundancy, a partner leaving them or being bereaved, then their children will suffer. If you are a women with, say 4 children, in a violent abusive […]
Posts under ‘Benefits’
Labour must again be a moral crusade or it is nothing
Jul 22nd, 2015 by Bryan Gould.Nothing more starkly demonstrates the parlous state of the Labour Party than the failure of its leaders (and almost all of its would-be leaders) to resist cuts in benefits that will drive many thousands of the most vulnerable into deeper poverty and despair. No one prepared to look at the evidence can doubt that the […]
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The Tories’ Welfare Bill was an attack on those in poverty. Why did only 48 of us vote against it?
Jul 21st, 2015 by Michael Meacher.It is extraordinary that the Labour party could have got itself into such a muddle over welfare reform (which is Tory-speak for crippling welfare cutbacks) when Osborne’s sole motive for this bill, which had its second reading today, is to create divisions within Labour and label it as the party of shirkers. The bill is […]
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Does the acting Labour leader believe in anything?
Jul 13th, 2015 by David Pavett.Harriet Harman’s interview on the Sunday Politics of 12 July, has rapidly and justifiably gained notoriety on social media. It is important that there is a strong reaction from Labour MPs to the interview. The absence of such a reaction would be a very bad omen for Labour. Harman’s line of reasoning can be paraphrased and summarised […]
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Would a Rachel Reeves budget yesterday have been much different?
Jul 9th, 2015 by James Elliott.Ahead of yesterday’s budget, in which George Osborne laid out £12bn of welfare cuts, a continued squeeze on public sector pay, the abolition of student maintenance grants and higher tuition fees, Labour’s ‘opposition’ front benchers went out of their way to agree with Osborne’s narrative of austerity. Still reeling from the General Election, or now […]
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Millionaires demanding salary hikes as £12bn welfare cuts fall on poorest
Jul 7th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.You can always trust Britain’s pampered corporate bosses to express their greed at the most inauspicious moments, but to do so when Osborne is set for the most inequality-expanding budget in living memory at the expense of the poor is insensitive even by their standards. The heads of Britain’s biggest companies already make more in […]
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The Labour leadership candidates should turn to Barbara Castle
Jun 27th, 2015 by Calum Sherwood.As the Labour leadership election picks up pace, and some of the dividing lines between the candidates are beginning to emerge, I feel that it is becoming increasingly necessary for the some of the so-called frontrunners to revisit the career of Barbara Castle. One of the most esteemed figures from Labour’s history, Castle proved that […]
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Immigration and benefits: the political economy of scapegoating
Jun 2nd, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Immigration and benefits. Immigration and benefits. Immigration and benefits. I can barely remember a time when these weren’t commanding headlines or the imaginations of politicians. One might say that this is no surprise, seeing as they are both hot button issues for the public – though it might be said these issues are fabricated and […]
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What can we expect from renewed austerity?
Jun 1st, 2015 by Michael Burke.The new Tory government will renew its austerity offensive shortly with the publication of an ‘emergency Budget’ on July 8. It is simple to demonstrate that the previous austerity programme caused the economy to grind to a halt (and with it the improvement in government finances). Supporters of austerity like to claim that austerity led […]
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The coming tabloid assault on charities
Jun 1st, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.A couple of straws in the wind, perhaps, but I have a feeling something’s a-brewing. Exhibit one: Olive Cooke, a 92-year-old poppy seller and giver to charitable causes took her own life after, apparently, being repeatedly pestered by cold callers asking for more cash (she already gave to 27 charities every month) and receiving dozens […]
