Thursday, February 07, 2013
Labour to cut welfare benefits and penalise Welsh claimants
Liam Byrne, who famously left a note for his successor as Chief Secretary to the Treasury saying "I'm afraid there is no money, kind regards and good luck", is clearly not afraid to say what he thinks.
With all the fuss about changes to welfare benefits it is worth recalling this article in the Guardian lastv year in which he is quoted as saying that Labour will cut welfare benefits further if they get back into office in 2015. His rhetoric about social security no longer enjoying "widespread support" and the system needing to work differently to provide a "much bigger push" to get people back into work is markedly different to what his colleagues are saying all around.
Of more concern to my constituents is the proposal to introduce regional benefits. That will mean that claimants in South Wales will get less than those in more afluent areas of the country. Labour opposed regional pay, as did the Liberal Democrats. Unlike the Liberal Democrats however, they want to pay different levels of benefit in different parts of the country.
With all the fuss about changes to welfare benefits it is worth recalling this article in the Guardian lastv year in which he is quoted as saying that Labour will cut welfare benefits further if they get back into office in 2015. His rhetoric about social security no longer enjoying "widespread support" and the system needing to work differently to provide a "much bigger push" to get people back into work is markedly different to what his colleagues are saying all around.
Of more concern to my constituents is the proposal to introduce regional benefits. That will mean that claimants in South Wales will get less than those in more afluent areas of the country. Labour opposed regional pay, as did the Liberal Democrats. Unlike the Liberal Democrats however, they want to pay different levels of benefit in different parts of the country.
