What the Welfare Reform & Work Act has in store for us — and the BBC rarely, if ever, mentions

Voting on the then Welfare Reform & Work Bill — now an Act of Parliament — occurred on Monday 20 July 2015, almost exactly a year ago today. As previously stated on this blog, a majority of Labour MPs abstained while 48 Labour MPs including Hampstead & Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq and Brent Central MP Dawn Butler defied the Labour Whip to vote against that legislation.(1)

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas outlined her opposition to that legislation, saying that that legislation was aimed at "dismantling" the welfare state. She said that George Osborne was 'playing politics with poverty', and said that the legislation would "lock in child poverty' and 'leave ministers significantly less accountable for their policies."(2) The diminished 'accountability' is linked to use of 'statutory instruments', by which new measures can be brought through without an obligation for them to be debated in Parliament.(3)

Link addresses

1. http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/brent-labour-mps-2-1-against-welfare.html
2. https://www.carolinelucas.com/latest/the-welfare-bill-caroline-stands-against-dismantling-of-the-welfare-state
3. https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A9mSs2uKN4ZXqaEABA5LBQx.;_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcxNzAwMwRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10LTQyMy1zBGdwcmlkA2l2MXY5b2dxUU9DSjJseXF6MGY5N0EEbl9yc2x0AzAEbl9zdWdnAzAEb3JpZ2luA3VrLnNlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDMTE5BHF1ZXJ5AyUyMnN0YXR1dG9yeSUyMGluc3RydW1lbnRzJTIyJTIwd2VsZmFyZSUyMHJlZm9ybSUyMGFuZCUyMHdvcmslMjBiaWxsJTIwc2l0ZSUzQSUyMGh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYmVuZWZpdHNhbmR3b3JrLmNvLnVrBHRfc3RtcAMxNDY4NDEzOTk1?p="statutory+instruments"+welfare+reform+and+work+bill+site%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.benefitsandwork.co.uk&fr2=sb-top-uk.search&fr=yfp-t-423-s

You are receiving this update because you signed Jayne Linney and Debbie Sayers' petition: "Work & Pensions Committee: Hold IDS to account for his use of statistics" Alan - Monday 9th December - mark your diaries! - that is the day that Iain Duncan Smith will appear before the Work and Pensions Committee to face questions over his use of statistics.  This week we delivered our petition for IDS to be held to account -- which included your name -- to Parliament. Liz Kendall and Kate Green MP officially accepted it and placed it in the green bag behind the speaker's chair, as is the tradition.

It was a big day for us, to finally see all 105,000 names on our petition printed out and to take the campaign to Parliament. We have lived with disabilities for many years and have had to hear Iain Duncan Smith use dodgy statistics to justify changes to the benefit system. Now finally, we have been listened to and have had our voices heard. The Work and Pensions Committee say they will question IDS when he appears before them in three weeks time and examine how his department release benefit statistics to the media. It is a huge relief to finally tell you our petition has been a success! You can read all about it in The Mirror! From both of us thank you so much for the support, Jayne Linney and Debbie Sayers Picture credit: Phil Harris / Daily Mirror