Tagged with The Poor

James Wharton MP: the Tory who wants to cut dole

Three quid is less than the price of a pint in most central London pubs. It’s just about enough to get a small salad in the subsidised canteen in the offices where I work. And coincidentally, it is roughly 5% of the top whack rate of Jobseekers’ Allowance, which currently stands at £64.30 for the over 25s.

Benefits are usually increased each year in line with the September Consumer Price Index figure, normal times, three quid is the extent to which most of the 2.57m people in this country who are out of work right now would expect would to see their income increase. Continue reading →

The poor don’t have a party

The Tories are now the party of the poor, Iain Duncan Smith told a fringe meeting at Conservative Party conference this week. That he can even get away with such a surreal claim without attracting widespread derision underlines just how far the issue of poverty reduction no longer looms large on the political agenda.

I don’t underestimate the sincerity of a quiet man. Ever since he was forced out of the Tory leadership, IDS has devoted much of his political time to the question of welfare reform. He has been widely commended for taking the problem seriously, and for developing a new approach within a centre-right framework. Continue reading →