Iain Duncan Smith
Tories make hay with Labour’s welfare stance
The Welfare Uprating Bill won’t fall into difficulty when it has its second reading in the Commons today, but with around five Lib Dem MPs expected to vote against or… Continue reading
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Iain Duncan Smith doesn’t support a welfare cash card
Those nasty Tories, they’re at it again. Now they’re trying to stigmatise benefit claimants by giving them special welfare cash cards so they can’t buy booze or cigarettes with their… Continue reading
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Why the Poles keep coming
Yes, Britain’s employment figures are strong but most of the rise in employment so far under this government is accounted for by foreign-born workers (as was 99pc of the rise… Continue reading
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How to improve the Work Programme
Everyone who has been involved in the Work Programme has been warning ministers for some time that there were serious problems with this flagship policy. As this is the opposite… Continue reading
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Marriage tax breaks would alleviate child poverty, Mr Duncan Smith
The problem about relative poverty is precisely its relativity. The child poverty index, which measures whether a family’s income is below 60 per cent of the average, is a case… Continue reading
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Iain Duncan Smith: the UK should ‘have it all’
Iain Duncan Smith was strangely vague this morning when Andrew Marr asked him whether he thought Britain could survive outside the European Union. He said: ‘I’m an optimist about the… Continue reading
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Iain Duncan Smith’s latest welfare cut kite
It is strange that the government has chosen to trail a speech by Iain Duncan Smith on an issue popular with voters on the same day as good economic news.… Continue reading
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The SNP’s dismal conference
The Scottish National Party conference in Perth ought to have been a festival of ideas, showcasing solutions that only be applied by independence. Instead it has reminded everyone that the… Continue reading
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Any questions for Iain Duncan Smith?
I’m interviewing Iain Duncan Smith today for a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference, hosted by the Centre for Social Justice. I will be able to grill him for… Continue reading
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Conservative conference: Iain Duncan Smith rips into Labour’s welfare legacy
Iain Duncan Smith has just delivered the most political speech of what has been a highly partisan conference. He tore into Labour’s record on welfare, accusing them of having fostered… Continue reading
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Conservative conference: George Osborne to pursue £10 billion welfare cuts
George Osborne is due to speak to the Conservative party conference just before lunch today. What he tells the Symphony Hall at the International Convention Centre may well put his… Continue reading
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Conservative conference: Iain Duncan Smith admits ‘We will have to take more money out of welfare’
The Tory party loves its former leaders and the queue for Conservative Home’s fringe event with Iain Duncan Smith went round the block. IDS began by explaining why he had… Continue reading
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Universal uncertainty
Brushing aside recent criticism of his universal credit scheme, Iain Duncan Smith claimed that nothing now ‘demoralised’ him. After surviving two years of gruelling denigration as Conservative Party leader, he… Continue reading
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The dangers of yearning for a simple life
What is this mania for simplification? Listening to Nigel Farage struggling to explain UKIP tax policy on the Today programme this week made me wonder why, in so many areas… Continue reading
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Our debate on welfare reform is a dismal scandal - Spectator Blogs
On balance, Iain Duncan Smith’s spell as Tory leader can’t be remembered as an unmitigated success. Be that as it may, sometimes there are second acts in political lives and,… Continue reading
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‘Denuded’ Work and Pensions committee sheds little light on Universal Credit
The Work and Pensions Select Committee was much denuded this evening, chair Anne Begg told the guests: its membership had either been promoted in the reshuffle or had personal crises… Continue reading
3 Comments Keeping it simple: getting the Universal Credit back on track
Universal Credit, a giant effort to weave together all the fraying strands of welfare policy, is now unravelling fast. It all seemed so simple and intuitive when the idea was… Continue reading
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Iain Duncan Smith versus Jeremy Heywood
There’s war in Whitehall. The Sunday Times devotes its p2 lead (£) to the fact that Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, is ‘sceptical’ of the Universal Credit, the key to Iain… Continue reading
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Briefing: Universal Credit
MPs are due to debate the government’s plans for universal credit in the House of Commons this afternoon. The Opposition Day motion questions whether ministers have ‘failed to properly account… Continue reading
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Iain Duncan Smith denies threat to universal credit
Allowing Iain Duncan Smith to dig his heels in at the Work and Pensions department in last week’s reshuffle sent out two messages. The first was that the Prime Minister… Continue reading
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