Iain Duncan Smith

Full employment and rising wages are the key to welfare reform

By Liam Byrne - 16 February 0:05

Iain Duncan Smith was once right about the need for drastic change - then he got everything else wrong.

George Osborne leaves 11 Downing Street on January 7, 2013 in London.

How MPs are trying to protect the poor from Osborne's welfare cuts

By George Eaton - 21 January 13:58

Lib Dem rebels table amendment to Welfare Uprating Bill calling for benefits to increase in line with average earnings, rather than Osborne's 1 per cent.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith. Photograph: Getty Images.

The poorest and the disabled are hit hardest by the benefit cuts

By George Eaton - 08 January 15:52

The government's Impact Assessment shows that the poorest 10 per cent of households lose the most from the decision to raise benefits by just 1 per cent.

IDS is in trouble over his strivers’ tax – and he knows it

By Liam Byrne - 02 January 22:34

Unable to justify the government's decision to cut support for families, the Work and Pensions Secretary has resorted to myths.

Memo to Duncan Smith: low wages are not an argument for cutting benefits

By George Eaton - 02 January 9:43

The fact that benefits have risen faster than wages is an argument for higher wages, not lower benefits.

Leader: Beveridge 70 years on - the welfare challenge

By New Statesman - 28 November 17:13

The welfare state was much more than an artefact of one man’s genius.

1 comment

The twisted logic of making the poor poorer

By Sarah Ditum - 23 November 22:41

Ministers seem genuinely to believe that fear and stress are the keys to lifting people out of poverty.

33 comments

Charity workers hand out food to those in need

Shift the rhetoric from benefit scroungers to cheating corporations

By Chris Johnes - 20 November 10:00

Undue focus on "scrounging" is draining public support for welfare at a time when a proper safety net is desperately needed by millions of vulnerable people.

5 comments