Tag Archives: iain duncan smith

George Kendall

Opinion: the left should back the right on welfare

By George Kendall | Fri 20th August 2010 - 1:40 pm

Iain Duncan Smith is a right-winger. He was one of the first politicians to call for an invasion of Iraq, he is a eurosceptic. So, obviously, anything he’s proposing on welfare reform will be anathema to left-wingers. Right? Well, maybe not.

Under the current welfare system, many claimants aren’t interested in low paid work because they believe they’ll be worse off. This isn’t a guess, I’ve heard it with my own ears. This is outrageous. In the eighties, I was incensed when the Conservatives used to bang on about using …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 51 Comments
Mark Pack

The coalition agreement: jobs & welfare and justice

By Mark Pack | Tue 1st June 2010 - 12:20 pm

Welcome to the thirteenth in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here.

The jobs and welfare section of the coalition agreement is one of the least important – not because the policy area doesn’t matter (it certainly does) but because it says very little beyond, “we want to make the welfare system better”. Quite what better means and whether it can really be done is all down to how Iain Duncan Smith in particular does his job, the choices he makes and the degree to which pensions …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
Alex Foster

Daily View 2×2: 27 May 2010

By Alex Foster | Thu 27th May 2010 - 7:33 am

Detail of the art deco crown of the Chrysler Building, New YorkGood morning, and welcome to Daily View on the day which sees New York’s Chrysler Building celebrate its 80th birthday. Completed in 1930, it was the tallest building in the world for all of 11 months, before being replaced by the Empire State Building. After 9/11, it is once again the second tallest building in New York.

Also celebrating birthdays today are the chef Jamie Oliver (who is currently applying for planning permission to build a restaurant in Nottingham I will probably never be able to afford to eat in); West Wing actor Richard Schiff and the Lib Dem MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron. Some have speculated he might be in the running to replace Vince Cable as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats; he tweeted last night that as Vince Cable’s PPS, he got to hear the “Stalin to Mr Bean” gag in rehearsal. Tim is 40 today.

2 Big Stories

Coalition government sets out radical welfare reforms

So says the Guardian headline, anyway, but the article is light on detail if heavy on mood music. A lot of people will be watching anxiously for the detail.

Duncan Smith says he is to propose to the Treasury a radical scheme that includes simplification of the complex benefits system designed to make it financially worthwhile for unemployed people to work, including in part-time jobs.

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Two Conservative problems: Iain Duncan Smith and Boris Johnson

By Mark Pack | Sun 18th April 2010 - 11:50 am

There’s no doubt that many Tories are itching to shout “soft on criminals! soft on immigrants!” at the Liberal Democrats over the next few days.

One slight problem with the targets of choice: the Lib Dem policies on prison sentences and tackling the problem of illegal immigration. You see, those shouts of outrage should also be directed at Iain Duncan Smith (that well known soggy liberal who believes short prison sentences should be scrapped), not to mention notorious left-winger Boris Johnson (who believes in earned routes to citizenship for illegal immigrants).

I’m sure that will happen. Of course. No doubt about it.

Posted in General Election | Also tagged | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

YouTube ‘cos we want to: Tory leaders special

By Stephen Tall | Wed 17th June 2009 - 9:00 pm

Welcome to this latest instalment of our new LDV feature rounding up some of the best/worst/most curious political videos doing the rounds.

How could I not start with David ‘Veer are yur papeers?’ Cameron’s indulgence in a bit of outdated xeno-stereotyping. I find it hard to get worked-up by it – and it certainly doesn’t qualify as racist. It’s just not very Prime Ministerial, is it?

Speaking of not very Prime Ministerial, let’s remind ourselves of one of the prime reasons the Tories are so relieved to have Mr Cameron as their leader: Iain Duncan Smith, here in full oratorical flow ‘turning up the volume’:

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged , , and | 10 Comments
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