Welfare

Rough sleeping rose by 23 per cent in 2012. Photograph: Getty Images.
How the coalition is turning the screw on housing benefit claimants
By John Healey - 22 January 21:31

The latest round of welfare cuts will accelerate the rise in homelessness and leave low-income families struggling to find rented accomodation.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
Nine Lib Dems rebel as Osborne's welfare bill clears another hurdle
By George Eaton - 22 January 10:28

Charles Kennedy, Sarah Teather and seven others vote against bill capping benefit increases at 1 per cent for each of the next three years.

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.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg speak at a press conference inside No.10.
Progressives or regressives? The Lib Dems must choose on childcare policy
By Gavin Kelly - 21 January 11:26

The coalition hasn’t resolved the role the welfare system should play in supporting families with children. The impasse on childcare policy reflects this.

Chancellor George Osborne
The employers and the MPs are the real shirkers
By Natalie Bennett - 13 January 1:13

The tiny minority that runs big business and politics has failed the hard-working majority in Britain.

A protest in Trafalgar Square in 1990 against the poll tax.
Will this be the coalition’s poll tax moment?
By George Eaton - 10 January 12:20

The 10 per cent cut to Council Tax Benefit will force many to pay the tax for the first time. It could prove the most disastrous of the coalition's welfare reforms.

An estate in Rochdale, named the most deprived area in UK. Photo: Getty
The welfare debate and the end of reason
By Alex Andreou - 09 January 18:26

The way in which the entire debate on benefits seems to be taking place entirely outside the realms of logic seems unprecedented, says Alex Andreou.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
Who are the Lib Dem welfare rebels?
By George Eaton - 09 January 10:21

Four Lib Dems, including Sarah Teather and Julian Huppert, voted against the bill and two abstained.

Former Labour foreign secretary David Miliband. Photograph: Getty Images.
David Miliband's speech against the Welfare Uprating Bill: full text
By David Miliband - 08 January 17:24

"It is intolerable then to blame the unemployed for their poverty and our deficit."

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.

Latest tweets