Tag Archives: iain duncan smith

Lib Dem MPs win concessions ahead of benefits cap vote

By The Voice | Published 31st January 2012 - 7:35 am

Lib Dem MPs, including the party’s deputy leader Simon Hughes, look set to obtain concessions from Iain Duncan Smith to win their support for the Coalition’s controversial welfare bill, which will introduce a benefit cap of a maximum of £26,000. Here’s how The Guardian reports the news:

The government is expected to make a series of concessions in the coming days on it controversial £26,000 household benefits cap to win over wavering Liberal Democrat MPs. Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, is expected to agree that a discretionary fund should be established to ease the burden on families

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Posted in News | Also tagged benefits, liam byrne, mark thompson, simon hughes | 7 Comments

Official rebukes Iain Duncan Smith over immigration figures (mis)use

By Mark Pack | Published 25th January 2012 - 7:04 pm

The BBC reports:

The UK’s statistics watchdog has rebuked a minister over his handling of controversial figures on benefits claimed by immigrants.

Sir Michael Scholar, head of the UK Statistics Authority, has written to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, questioning the way he released the figures almost week ago.

He highlighted that the figures were presented to the public as if they were official figures but in fact had not been through the rigorous and impartial process for publishing such numbers:

Posted in News | Also tagged immigration, michael scholar | 4 Comments

Laws advises Clegg: oppose Tories’ “arbitrary and vindictive” benefits cuts

By Stephen Tall | Published 6th November 2011 - 1:10 pm

The Financial Times this weekend reported what it labelled ‘one of the fiercest and most fascinating political battles of the year’ — a battle which looks set to pitch David Laws and Nick Clegg against George Osborne and the Labour leadership.

The issue concerns the amount by which the Coalition should increase benefits: based on September’s inflation figure, this should be 5.2%. The Tories are pushing for a below-inflation settlement, but Mr Laws — co-editor of The Orange Book, and firmly identified as an economic liberal — is urging the Lib Dems to reject such a move:

Mr Laws, considered

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Posted in News | Also tagged benefits, david laws, george osborne, nick clegg, welfare | 7 Comments

Interview with Mike Moore MP – Action in Government, ideas for the future

By Caron Lindsay | Published 5th September 2011 - 1:51 pm

Interview: Mike Moore MP – Action in Government, ideas for the future

It can’t be much fun being Alex Salmond these days. The euphoria of May has subsided, and he’s realised that there’s nobody else to blame for his majority Government’s actions. On top of that, wherever he looks, he sees the grin of Wilie Rennie, ready to highlight any example of anglophobia, of dodging , delaying, ducking and diving. The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader has had accolade after accolade in the press for providing such high quality opposition to the SNP …

Posted in LDV interviews, Scotland | Also tagged alex salmond, michael moore, steve webb, willie rennie | 5 Comments

Opinion: Political reasons for people to back the ESA motion‏

By George Potter | Published 28th July 2011 - 11:57 am

If any of you are wondering how we can improve our situation in the polls then I’ve got a suggestion for you: back the Liberal Youth sponsored ESA Motion.

Now there are all sorts of compassionate, liberal and financial reasons to back this motion. The current system is unfair, inhumane, inaccurate and expensive. But, putting all that to one side for a moment, there are sound political reasons to back it.

At the moment the treatment of people with long term illnesses and disabilities is appalling. The media are starting to wake up to the issue, the government is facing a …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged benefits, chris grayling, employment support allowance | 27 Comments

Benefit caps and central London: how many children will be moving school?

By Mark Pack | Published 23rd June 2011 - 12:54 pm

Many Liberal Democrats I’ve spoken to have mixed feelings about the proposed benefit cap and some of the housing benefit changes. On the one hand, they have very little sympathy with the complaints of people such as Frank Dobson that rule changes means he wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in his council flat. Count me in the camp who doesn’t think council housing should be used to let ex-ministers with decades of salary earning that puts them amongst the best paid in the country and with membership of a decent pension scheme live in one of London’s most …

Posted in News | Also tagged council housing, housing, housing benefit, simon hughes, westminster council | 21 Comments

Welfare Reform Bill published today

By Mark Pack | Published 17th February 2011 - 9:31 am

The Government’s Welfare Reform Bill is being published today and its measures are mostly as previously trailed. The big policy in it is the Universal Credit – a major simplification to a horrendously complicated benefits system – and a very Liberal Democrat policy.

Because of the heavy previous trailing of the Welfare Reform Bill’s measures there are no major surprises in what it proposes but there are three respects in which it shows the outcome of the at times very lively debate within government – mostly, though not always, Liberal Democrat versus Conservative – about its contents. In that respect, …

Posted in News | Also tagged benefits, housing benefit, nick clegg, universal credit, welfare reform, welfare reform bill | 13 Comments

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… This government is working

By Stephen Lloyd MP | Published 3rd January 2011 - 1:13 pm

The last six months as the new Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne have been more of a rollercoaster than I could ever have imagined they would be! I’ve been pretty much just as flat out, albeit in a different way, as an MP as I was during the 6 months frenetic run up to the General Election.

Much has gone on as you’ll all be aware but the two things I’d like to write about today show the upside of being in Government and the upside of having the privilege of influence all MPs enjoy.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged benefits, damian green, eastbourne, stephen lloyd | 32 Comments

DWP rebuked over its use of statistics

By Mark Pack | Published 27th November 2010 - 12:24 pm

The Guardian reports,

The head of the UK Statistics Authority has issued a public rebuke to welfare ministers over their use of official statistics, warning of “serious deficiencies” in the handling of unemployment data.

Sir Michael Scholar, the head of the authority, said that by failing to show the evidence for claims made by ministers, the government risked undermining public trust.

His criticism comes a day after Iain Duncan Smith, the secretary of state for work and pensions, was forced to explain to MPs why the “official” statistics he quoted in parliament had in fact been taken from a property website owned by

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Posted in News | Also tagged michael scholar, work | 2 Comments

Steve Webb writes… Why Liberal Democrats should welcome the welfare reforms

By Steve Webb MP | Published 16th November 2010 - 10:27 am

Many Liberal Democrats may be wondering what to make of last week’s announcement by Iain Duncan Smith to replace a whole raft of working-age welfare benefits with a Universal Credit. As a Lib Dem Minister at the DWP, I thought it would be helpful to offer my perspective.

As a party we have long talked about integrating the tax and benefits system. As a first step, we surely need to integrate the benefits system with itself. The Universal Credit approach sits comfortably with our own policy to introduce a single working-age benefit, and will provide a basic allowance topped up by additional elements …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged welfare reform | 64 Comments

Nick Clegg averted the axe from over-16s’ child benefit

By Helen Duffett | Published 11th October 2010 - 8:53 am

Paul Walter has spotted an under-reported point in the child benefit coverage of the past few days: that payments for children aged 16 to 18 were originally intended to be stopped, but that this plan was dropped after Nick Clegg intervened.

Paul spotted this in a “deep trawl” of the Telegraph:

The controversial decision to “pre-announce” the child benefit decision was made 10 days ago by the key Conservative power-broking trio of David Cameron, Mr Osborne and William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, it is understood.

A couple of days later they informed Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, and his party

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Posted in News | Also tagged child benefit, danny alexander, david cameron, george osborne, nick clegg, paul walter, william hague | 9 Comments

Capping total benefit entitlements – right or wrong?

By Iain Roberts | Published 5th October 2010 - 12:40 pm

Alongside the widely publicised lopping of child benefits for higher-rate taxpayers, George Osborne has also announced plans for a cap on how much any one non-working family can get from the State.

The maximum will be set at £26,000 and starts in 2013. It’s likely to affect larger families, particularly those put into private rented accomodation by their local authority.

This capping seems to be pretty much impossible to do with the system as it is right now. There’s a host of different benefits and credits, all administered by different people and, in some cases, totally different tiers of government. …

Posted in News, Op-eds | Also tagged benefits, george osborne | 142 Comments

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