Why does George Osborne emphasise the government’s benefit cuts? As The Economist noted after the Conservative Party conference, even when his cuts are a comparatively small element of his plans, he still talks them up. Mr Osborne is a notoriously ‘political’ Chancellor, and he knows that polls…Read more…
Work allowances – the nasty little cut in the #AutumnStatement
This afternoon the Chancellor told us that one of his “steps to control benefit spending” will be “freezing Universal Credit work allowances for a further year”. The work allowance is one of the key elements of Universal Credit – it is the amount of earnings you’re allowed before your Universal…Read more…
Autumn Statement 2014 stamp duty give away will do nothing to solve the housing crisis
Many eyes will be on the stamp duty tax cuts announced in the autumn statement today, but this will do little to address the UK’s entrenched housing crisis. A very unpalatable truth for supporters of the current government is that total home ownership has declined in every year since 2008….Read more…
Tens of thousands of single parents face wrongful sanctions
Sanctions have been a key plank in welfare policy for both Labour and the coalition government. They are designed to make sure that claimants looking, or preparing, for work comply with the requirements the job centre places on them in return for their…Read more…