Last month, the Department for Work and Pensions released its internal review into the effectiveness of benefit sanctions[1]. To summarise the report – sanctions are not effective. Not only are they ineffective – they are harmful. Previous research shows that removing benefits increases hardship, …
What are the stories we should tell about the humanitarian crisis at Manston Airport Asylum centre?
The Prison Officers Association described Manston Airport processing centre as “A humanitarian crisis on British soil”. The Government has admitted that its treatment of asylum seekers at Manston was not “legally compliant”. The pictures and stories we are seeing are appalling and angering in …
Why I hate Warm Banks (and why my church is opening one)
Last year Trussell Trust foodbanks provided emergency food parcels for 2.1 million people, and this year the number will be higher. Even that tells only part of the story, as Trussell represents around half of the foodbanks in the UK. In the space of a decade, foodbanks have gone from virtually …
Briefing on the ‘Mini Budget’ for the Enough to Live group
26th September 2022 The big question we asked of the 23 September budget[1] was that it should provide people with enough to live this winter. Prior to the budget, Prof Donald Hirsh calculated that after considering the Energy Price Guarantee and other payments, an average family of four …
An energy cap announcement in three parts: the good, the absent and the ugly
Today, 50+ faith, charity and community leaders signed an open letter to the PM, urging further targeting support for the poorest households in response to rising costs. Click here to read the letter. Having faced the prospect of average household energy costs topping £5,000, it could be …
Inflation, interest rates and the poorest
This morning I was interviewed on Premier Radio about today’s interest rate rises. I talked about those whose costs will rise – mortgage holders, renters and those who are already burdened by unavoidable debt accumulated over the lockdowns. I also talked about the rise’s effects on those who are …
Tax and the cost of living
The Conservative Party is choosing a new leader, who will become the UK’s next Prime Minister. One of the key issues throughout the campaign has been tax cuts. All the candidates – including Sunak and Truss who remain in the contest – wish to cut taxes. The only differences between candidate have …
The Spring Statement number you need to know: 600,000 more people pulled into poverty
The most important number from the entire spring statement was not from the Chancellor but from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. They estimated that over the next year, 600,000 people will be pulled into poverty [1]. The 14.6 million people already experiencing poverty will of course be pulled …
Universal Credit: Why do we think more threats and less choice helps the unemployed?
The Government has announced a new jobs “mission”. The headline policy in this mission is to say to people who lose their job that after four weeks they will also lose their choice about what jobs they should apply for. If they insist on having a choice in how they earn a living, they will be …
Excrescences and Performative Cruelty
The former Welfare Reform minster has described two of his own policies as “excrescences” that were made into law because they were popular. The phrase “Performative Cruelty” has been used to describe such policies and most recently in describing the treatment of refugees. Here Paul asks if or when …