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Secretary of State and Chairman of Work and Pensions have a spat
Seems that SoS David Gauke has been putting Frank Field to rights in respect of a tweet the latter made about someone he’d encountered with no money due to Universal Credit, at the foodbank.
Seems Frank might not have been briefed completely correctly….of course, in these days of fluid news, who knows what the truth actually might be?
The extent of David Gauke’s tweeting and responding about this one case which Frank Field tweeted about is quite incredible.
It seems like a shot across the bows - an attempt to silence the pre-Christmas stories of heartbreaking financial distress.
Whatever the facts of this individual case (thankfully the family now has money) ... I hope this will not succeed in silencing the Work and Pensions Committee who have done a lot of gather and publicise vast quantities of empirical evidence of the problems with the operation of and design of UC and its impact.
Without these stories and the media and political pressure it is unlikely that the latest (small) concessions in the budget would have been made.
We need to keep raising evidence of the impact of UC on many many people - the payment issues are only the tip of the iceberg.
David Gauke vows not to let ‘hard left’ win on ‘social media battlefield’: huffingtonpost.co.uk
Minister urges Tories to fight back over ‘bogus’ social media claims: theguardian.com
The Secretary of State takes to Twitter
Oh the possibilities!
Interesting how questioning the DWP over the impact of it’s policies now automatically makes one “hard left”.
I think Gauke is on a loser here. He’s trying to defend the indefensible, concentrating on one isolated case and ignoring the real hardship elsewhere.
There’s certainly seems to be a great number of people suddenly tweeting in support of Mr Gauke .. all of these were retweeted by him in the last 24 hours -
If you have a view on #UniversalCredit (whether positive or negative) you really should read this letter
- Conservative Member of Parliament for Braintree.
I’m shocked by this detailed letter from @DavidGauke to @frankfieldteam. It shoes Frank’s claims abt the UC case were totally untrue. Most importantly, it shows the lady got her UC £ almost immediately & without MP/Minister needing to intervene. An example of UC working very well
- Father, Serial Entrepreneur and MP for Croydon South
This is important. Amid furore over Universal Credit, facts matter more than ever. All MPs have constituents who deserve not to be frightened by unfounded reports. Well done @DavidGauke
- @Conservatives MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.
I am sure all fair minded pols and journos will read this from @DavidGauke and think twice…:
- Conservative Member of Parliament for lovely North West Hampshire.
I have always respected @frankfieldteam - disappointing to see his constituent was used to mislead the public and play politics
- Proud to be MP for fantastic, unique Telford.
‘Alarmist and inaccurate’ from @frankfieldteam Really you have to say well done to @DavidGauke and the excellent @DWP. Looks like #UniversalCredit is working
- Dep Chair Kew Conservatives, Chair Conservative Policy Forum, RPNK Conservatives.
This is good.
- Conservative councillor in Kensington and Chelsea
It’s important to know the facts in any policy dispute. These seem pretty clear and @DavidGauke is showing why #UniversalCredit is working for most. Shame @frankfieldteam would neither help nor admit it worked
- MP for Tonbridge and Malling. Chair @commonsforeign.
I’ve always respected Frank Field, but this letter shows how individual cases you hear can be highly misleading & individuals used for political purposes
- Member of Parliament for Newark, Nottinghamshire since 2014
Excellent response from @DavidGauke. I can’t over-emphasise how much precious time Tory MPs spend rebutting fake news from orchestrated campaigns instead of serving constituents. I am sending so many of these sorts of letters every week.
- Conservative MP for Saffron Walden.
Assuming this is right - and it looks persuasive - well done to @DavidGauke and his officials for writing so clearly and firmly - and for handing the claimant as well as allowed by the UC rules
- Writer, commentator and adviser on good government and regulation
Whatever your view on the broader political questions here, you really do have to take your hat off to the forensic excellence of this letter
- Businessman, blogger, columnist; gentleman, scholar, acrobat; chair of @these_islands
This is an important rebuttal of a scare story being peddled by someone who should know better. Good to see the Universal Credit system working as it should
- Conservative Member of Parliament for Grantham, Stamford, Bourne & surrounding villages.
This is a brilliant defence of Jobcentre staff and Universal Credit advances working exactly how they’re meant to by @DavidGauke, but it’s disappointing to see so many inaccuracies in Frank Field’s account: leading to wasted staff time and alarm
- @CamdenTories Councillor for Hampstead | Free-market and socially-liberal Conservative
Worst form of politics:putting out incorrect personal stories for political ends. @frankfieldteam either making it up or not checking facts
- Member of Parliament for Bexhill and Battle.
Oh dear… While @DavidGauke continues to improve the delivery of #UniversalCredit during the rollout period @frankfieldteam continues to frighten people with inaccurate stories
- Member of Parliament for Walsall North, Conservative. Housing, Brexit & NHS.
https://twitter.com/DavidGauke/with_replies
And 100% conservative. Why would they say anything else? Heads in sand time….again.
A few slightly more reasoned responses in Guardian letters - https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/dec/21/governments-marie-antoinette-view-of-universal-credit
The Centre for Social Justice have gone as far as to accuse FF of “fake news” on twitter
“The Centre for Social Justice have gone as far as to accuse FF of “fake news” on twitter”
Did they accuse the Daily Mail of the same thing over any of their, made up, exaggerated, scaremongering pieces about benefit “scroungers”?
Did they accuse Channel 5 of whipping up hatred against benefit claimants with their endless suppuration of “benefit porn”?
No? I wonder why not. Bias maybe?
The Centre for Social Justice have gone as far as to accuse FF of “fake news” on twitter
Established by IDS. Says it all really.
I think this one’s worth replying to.