What the papers say….

After a brief outburst of oleaginous praise for UC in certain sectors of the Press, these items have popped up.  I suspect they reflect the facts rather more accurately than Matthew D’Ancona’s UC-encomium published recently in the Guardian.

New Statesman - Welfare reform: proof that you can get away with failure if it’s boring and it doesn’t affect People Like Us

Universal credit changes ‘raise domestic abuse fears’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31530110
What seems especially appalling about this is that Ministers have tried to say that there is no problem with the single payment to families as no problems has arisen as yet. But as the extent of UC claims for families is tiny, how can they know? See also news item
http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/news/item/roll-out-of-universal-credit-should-test-different-payment-methods-to-prote

Welfare reform – in dire straits
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/19/guardian-view-welfare-reform-in-dire-straits

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/welfare-reform-proof-you-can-get-away-failure-if-its-boring-and-it-doesnt-affect

Thanks Dan - don’t know why I haven’t got a link to that one. I suspect my own incompetence at the keyboard.

Andrew Dutton - 20 February 2015 03:56 PM

Thanks Dan - don’t know why I haven’t got a link to that one. I suspect my own incompetence at the keyboard.

Makes for good reading too; I’m glad to say that it echoes my concerns that UC is set up to force people into low hours part time inscure work.

Yes, very good articles, but also very depressing for a Friday afternoon (points made continue to fall on deaf ears of (most) politicians, voters etc). I think I need to consume vast quantities of Purple Moose over the weekend (other anasthetics are available).

Oh look…..

‘Very little progress’ on universal credit, say MPs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31610232

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/37cefba0-bc29-11e4-a6d7-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Sm6ANMH1

An interesting piece in the FT dated 12/5/15 -

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5af74664-bb84-11e4-b95c-00144feab7de.html#axzz3arUopahp

It states among other things that Treasury officials have indicated that ‘the final sign-off’ for UC will only come ‘towards the end of 2016’.
Not consistent with certain claims by certain people, perhaps?

Interesting remarks from CAB Warrington.

The under-article comments are interesting (and varied) too. One says:
‘The economist described DWP statistics as “flowing like raw sewage’

Which seems to refer to:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2013/04/government-statistics