Grayling bows to the inevitable

The changes announced to
the work experience programme today have been designed to reassure the companies involved. Those on the scheme will now only face any benefits sanction if they commit the equivalent of gross
misconduct.

Once some big corporations started getting cold feet about the scheme some tweaks to it "http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/7665783/ids-defends-his-work-scheme-but-he-may-have-to-change-it.thtml">were inevitable. As Matt d’Ancona "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/9105319/Workfare-provides-a-ladder-of-hope-from-despair-to-dignity.html">wrote on Sunday, corporate Britain has proved remarkably
spineless in the face of attacks from a bunch of hard-line left-wingers.

But the tweaks announced today by Chris Grayling — whose robustness on the issue has impressed Tory high command — maintain the purpose of the scheme. Offering those who are unemployed
structure and a way back into the workforce are crucial in moving them from welfare into work. Without this kind of scheme, more and more job opportunities will go to those coming to work here from
other EU countries.

One other thing worth noting about this issue has been Labour’s positioning on it. Liam Byrne, one of the more thoughtful members of the shadow Cabinet, has avoided knee-jerk criticism or
joining in with the nihilistic attacks on it. Indeed, the suggestions he made today were pretty sensible and were, interestingly, not that far away from
what the government ended up announcing.

Tags: Benefits, Chris Grayling, DWP, Liam Byrne, UK politics, Welfare, Welfare reform

Sir Everard Digby

Tesco are not a successful invention -they are a state subsidised organisation. They employ lots of part time staff with earnings topped up to reasonable levels by tax credits; next time anyone pops in and thinks they are getting a bargain,think again. The taxpayer has subsidised it and continues to do so. Even if these unemployed people do get a job with Tescos,there is a probability that the taxpayer is still subsidising it.

Telemachus@9.25

‘Uncle Joe Public’ (would that be Stalin?) will have trouble getting through the leftie smokescreen to the facts of the matter,let alone form a reasoned opinion.
Fergus Pickering

Telemachus, the BMA is the doctors’ trade union. Why should they want any change, they do very well, stuffed with our money as they are, as things now stand. They are at present considering striking for more money. Uncle Joe Public believes in the NHS like it was fairies at the bottom of the garden. Tesco I like. Supermarkets are one of our most successful modern inventions. Or don’t you like shopping?
Kevin

Conservative journalists seem to be unanimous in condemning critics of these schemes, yet surely they are not beyond criticism? Cameron speaks of “anti-business snobbery”, but may be ignoring the possibility that, for a person with no capital, access to business could be dependent on membership of a social network. Conservatives speak of an economy guided by rational self-interest. It is not a great leap to conceive of the possibility that a hiring manager’s rational self-interest may conflict with a purely meritocratic hiring policy. Given the possibility that an unemployed person simply may never be “one of the boys”, it is right that he should be paid for his labour.
History Lover

Where were the SWP when Labour was punishing people for not attending work placements. During Labour’s disastrous time in Government I regularly had to advocate on behalf of families with small children when one of the parents refused or didn’t attend work placements. One I remember particularly had no benefit for six weeks and was living on handouts from his extended family. When my organisation rang the Job Centre the person we spoke to was horrified that he hadn’t been told to apply for hardship payments after a week. So it happened under Labour but nobody made a fuss about it.

Chris Grayling was quite right to stand his ground but now there will be people who will deliberately not attend knowing full well that they won’t be sanctioned. Also they won’t attend the Literacy and Numeracy courses that the Government is providing to get them out of Labour’s cycle of educational despair. Why? because you can’t touch me mate I got rights the SWP said. These irresponsible people in the SWP are just intent on ruining young lives and throwing a whole generation of young people on the scrap heap. IDS and Chris Grayling are fighting with all their might to make a better place for young people and all Labour and their pals in the SWP can do is try to sabotage it.
Mudplugger

Grayling, a wet-lettuce just like Andrew Lansley, shows complete inability to ‘market’ sound policies in ways that appeal to voters and cut the legs from under their oppponents.

Suggest they look to Michael Gove to see how it should be done and how managing the ‘marketing’ enables you to carry on getting the job done without compromising unnecessarily to the irrelevant whingers.
telemachus’

Quite chilling is it not
The Royal Colleges. The BMA and Uncle Joe Public cannot get the Coalition to deviate on the NHS.
But when Tesco squeals…
Guru McKenzie

U-turn if you want to … and so will Grayling et al
michael

Those who have the temerity to call corporate Britain spineless in the face of employment legislation, should go forth and read it…ALL of it!
Holly ……

Grayling ‘bows’ in favour of a GOOD THING.
Wow that must really get on your wick.
Labour would have just continued regardless,
but without all the ‘slave labour’rubbish being aired.
Win win for Grayling & the young wishing to get into work.
For Labour & the left it’s just a case of on to the next GOOD THING we can oppose, smash up or cause strife..and who better to get that message out than the British media in all it’s formats.
Let’s hope that now Murdoch Snr is back at the helm we can have some nice juicy tales
in the Sun on Sunday on how British public officials got to the stage where payments from the media were the norm.
Who comes under the umbrella of a ‘public official’ and who’s umbrella were these
‘public officials’ under?
Rhoda Klapp

Remarkably spineless? Expectedly more like.

Grayling bows to the inevitable

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