Iain Duncan Smith quits over planned disability benefit changes

This possibly won't mean much if you live outside the UK, but this Conservative MP is a much hated figure, as Work and Pensions secretary he was key to Tory plans that would see severely disabled people lose around £30 a week. A bill outlined in Osbornes recent budget, which saw tax cuts for the wealthy, and which is surely now destined for the bin. IDS was central to Tory planning, and says in his resignation that he could no longer be passive over cuts to the Disability Living Allowance, in what he says is a politically motivated policy.

The resignation is a big surprise and a huge victory for the many vocal opponents of this bill.

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Mr Duncan Smith, who was the Conservative Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003, said in his resignation letter that the changes were "defensible in narrow terms, given the continuing deficit".

But he said they should have formed part of "a wider process" of finding the best way to focus resources on those most in need.

"I am unable to watch passively whilst certain policies are enacted in order to meet the fiscal self-imposed restraints that I believe are more and more perceived as distinctly political rather than in the national economic interest," he said.

"Too often my team and I have been pressured in the immediate run up to a budget or fiscal event to deliver yet more reductions to the working-age benefit bill.

"There has been too much emphasis on money-saving exercises and not enough awareness from the Treasury, in particular, that the government's vision of a new welfare-to-work system could not be repeatedly salami-sliced.

"It is therefore with enormous regret that I have decided to resign."

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Iain Duncan Smith quits over planned disability benefit changes - BBC News

Think Iain Duncan Smith's resignation is a masterstroke? Sadly, he's not that clever..

Duncan Smith spent five years in the Cabinet not resigning over cuts to disabled people's payments that did happen, before resigning over that one that won't happen. The proposed cuts to the Personal Independence Payment had already been called off following a public revolt by Conservative backbenchers, and news that the cut will be cancelled arrived in journalists' inboxes long before Duncan Smith's resignation did.

All of which might lead you to think that something else is going on, that this resignation has more to do with the coming referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union than anything to do with the welfare budget. For politicos - weaned on a diet of The West Wing, Borgen, Scandal et al - this is a particularly tempting narrative. We love to believe that there's a plan, that everything happens for a reason. There's just one small problem here: and that problem is Iain Duncan Smith.

As exciting as it would be for people like me, Iain Duncan Smith simply isn't clever enough to have thought this many moves ahead. This is the man who is the chief architect of the universal credit, which was supposed to have been rolled out in October 2013, and in March 2016 has been rolled out to the grand total of 141,100 people - and by "people", I mean "single men without dependents", the only group whose claims are simple enough to be processed on the universal credit.

This is the Secretary of State who has wasted so much money on failed policies that the government is able to claim - entirely truthfully - that the money being spent on disabled people has gone up, even though not a single penny has gone to disabled people while countless billions have been lavished on IT systems that don't work and a benefit reform that will never be implemented.

This is the man who as leader of the Conservative party mistook a spoof poster - "It rains less under a Conservative government" - for the real thing, happily posing underneath it. This is the man who Osborne described as "not clever enough" after watching him present on his welfare reforms in the last government. This is the man who, despite having been the longest-serving Secretary of State at the Department for Welfare and Pensions, leaves it having implemented nothing and done nothing.

It is certainly true that this is a man who has been waiting for an excuse to walk out of the government since the Autumn Statement in November 2015, when Osborne moved the tax credit cuts into the universal credit rollout - a sign that, as far as the Treasury was concerned, the universal credit will never happen. As civil servants in the DWP have observed, Duncan Smith has been a broken figure since that setback, one that would have been obvious if he had had any grip on his department.

Resigning as part of a plan? As exciting as that would be, Iain Duncan Smith simply isn't good enough for that.

Think Iain Duncan Smith's resignation is a masterstroke? Sadly, he's not that clever

He's one of the nastiest wankers in government, no way has a wave of empathy flooded over him.
There's more to this story... which will no doubt come out one day .

It's sad for brexit supporters, that hes joined that camp

He's not even competent, has wasted a fortune trying to get his expensive pet project Universal Credit up and running , and it's still years off.

And a main player of the ridiculous idea of a low wage job economy, topped up by in work benefits called 'tax' credits .

His great idea of sanctioning people 100% of their welfare money for not jumping through the bureaucratic hoops in the right order , is beloved to be behind the rise in suicides in the uk.

fuck him like the rest of them a shower of ,,,,

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Suicides reach a ten year high and are linked with welfare “reforms”


Figures released in February by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate that suicide rates, which had fallen consistently since 1981, are now at their highest in over a decade. It is primarily male suicides which have increased.
The figures for 2013 give a total of 6,233 deaths by suicide, 252 more than in 2012.
Suicide rates are highest in areas of high unemployment, with the north-east of England having the highest rate and London the lowest. Older males are now the most at risk, with 45-59 year olds having the highest rate.
The link between the welfare “reforms” and increased suicide risk has been highlighted by Mind, amongst other organisations. The charity has found that people with mental illnesses are having their benefits cut more than those with other kinds of illnesses.
There has been growing concern regarding how benefits are administered in relation to vulnerable individuals and last year, revelations that the Department for Work and Pensions had internally investigated 60 suicides related to benefit changes led to calls for greater accountabilty and transparency.
As an organisation, Mind is supportive of those with mental health problems being helped into work. But they find that often people are pushed before they are properly well. Research published last year by Mind found that people with mental illness were having their benefits cut more than people with other illnesses.
Most of the telephone calls to Mind’s national helpline are from those wanting to talk about suicide and self-harm, followed by advice on support services, mainly advocacy and welfare benefits.
Kauppinen, who has worked at Mind for 10 years, said that the team used to help people with mental health problems remain stable. But she said they have seen more clients in crisis in recent years.
“We see people in crisis every week,” she said. “I started here in 2005, but when it came to 2010-11, it became crisis work rather than having people just stay where they are.”
Tom Pollard, policy and campaigns manager at Mind, said:
“Pressurising people by threatening to stop their benefits causes a great deal of financial problems and emotional distress, with some people attempting to take their own lives as a result.”
“While the right type of employment can be beneficial to wellbeing, the support offered to those on mandatory back-to-work schemes such as the Work Programme is far too generic to effectively help people with mental health problems move towards employment. We need to see an overhaul of the system with more tailored specialised support and less focus on sanctioning.”
Kauppinen added: “There is very limited mental health awareness from people assessing clients in the new Work Programme. They find it very difficult to ask questions and you can see that the assessors are awkward. It takes a long time to train someone in mental health awareness.”

https://kittysjones.wordpress.com/20...lfare-reforms/

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The replacement will be interesting.

Step away from a filing ministry and take a nice long run up to the next leadership election, gathering back bench acolytes as you go.

Cracks appearing on Cameron's face now.

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Originally Posted by wasabi

The replacement will be interesting.

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Stephen Crabb has been appointed as the new work and pensions secretary, after Iain Duncan Smith resigned on Friday.
Mr Duncan Smith had said the latest planned cuts to disability benefits were "not defensible" in a Budget that benefited higher-earning taxpayers.
David Cameron said he was "puzzled and disappointed" that Mr Duncan Smith had decided to go when they had agreed to have a rethink about the policies.
Alun Cairns is replacing Mr Crabb as secretary of state for Wales.
An ally of Mr Duncan Smith suggested he had been driven to resign by a "high-handed and short-termist political approach" to cuts by Chancellor George Osborne.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Duncan Smith had "done the right thing", having "presided over some fairly appalling policies".
He said the government's latest moves to reduce disability payments were "simply not fair, not right" and it was wrong to finance tax cuts for the better off by "taking money away" from those with disabilities.
Mr Crabb said on Twitter: "A privilege to be appointed new Work & Pensions Secretary this morning. Looking forward to working with my new team."

Stephen Crabb replaces Iain Duncan Smith - BBC News

As far as I'm concerned, Smith was the architect of these cuts and the press he's been getting is deserved.

Resigning is an attempt at trying to pretend he was against it, hence Cameron's thinly disguised criticism.

looks like the new guy had his snout firmly in the expenses trough

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Stephen Crabb nominates fellow MP's flat as main home: MPs' expenses - Telegraph

Mr Crabb bought the orginal flat in Southwark for £68,000 in 1997. Over seven months, from July 2006, he took advantage of the small mortgage interest charges on the flat to claim £8,049 for refurbishment.

This included £1,451 on repainting, £549 for a sofa and £435 for bedroom furniture at John Lewis, where he also claimed £500 for a goose down duvet and corner TV unit.

Mr Crabb claimed a further £662 for a leather chair, £535 on three rugs and £350 on a coffee table from Laura Ashley. Having claimed for refurbishing it, Mr Crabb sold the flat for £240,000 in September, 2007.

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don't like the look of him at all
A yes man to the core.

Sold out all for a £350 coffee table ....

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Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Resigning is an attempt at trying to pretend he was against it,

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Yes Harry a Tory with a conscience. not. kunt is looking at his future with Boris.

You can't get any lower than a desperate Tory.

Even Teresa May's attempt at brightening up the budget
with her red dress showing more cleavage than usual.
surprised she wasn't wearing black stockings with suspenders peeping out.