David Cameron’s so-called ‘moral crusade’ on welfare has been a disaster - Reeves

Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to David Cameron’s claims that his welfare changes have given people ‘hope’, said:

 

"David Cameron’s so-called ‘moral crusade’ on welfare has been a disaster.

 

"There’s nothing moral about working people paying more and disabled people being hit hardest.

 

"Under David Cameron’s government, for the first time more people in poverty are in work than out of work. More than two thirds of the people hit by the one per cent cap on working age benefits and tax credits have a job. The Bedroom Tax has hit hundreds of thousands of disabled people and their carers, and the number of young people on unemployment benefit for over a year has doubled since 2010. Meanwhile, the Government’s flagship welfare reform, Universal Credit, has cost an astonishing £225,000 per person using it. No wonder David Cameron has presided over a tenfold rise in people relying on food banks.

 

"This Tory-led Government’s welfare reforms have penalised, rather than helped, those doing the right thing. The idea that disabled people hit by the Bedroom Tax, young people desperate for a job but stuck on benefits, and working families struggling to survive on low pay have been given ‘hope’ by David Cameron is preposterous.

 

"A Labour government will introduce a compulsory jobs guarantee to ensure those that can work do so, strengthen the minimum wage and scrap the hated Bedroom Tax."

 

Ten facts you need to know about David Cameron’s “moral crusade”:

 

1.   Two thirds of the 660,000 people hit by David Cameron’s hated “bedroom tax” are disabled (1), and 60,000 are carers (2)

 

2.    The number of young people left on unemployment benefits for over a year has doubled since the election (3)  

 

3.    The number of adults left on unemployment benefits for over two years has quadrupled since the election (4)

 

4.    Millions have been wasted on David Cameron’s flagship welfare reform Universal Credit, with £225,000 spent for every person receiving it at the end of last year (5)

  

5.   Child poverty is set to rise by 400,000 under David Cameron’s government, and 900,000 by the end of the decade (6)

 

6.   Women have been hit twice as hard as men by changes to benefits and tax credits under David Cameron’s government (7)

 

7.   More than 500,000 people were referred to food banks for emergency help between April and December last year – more than ten times as many as in 2009-10 (8). The Trussell Trust have cited benefit delays and measures such as the bedroom tax as key causes, along with rising in-work poverty (9)

 

8.  For the first time since relevant records began more households living in poverty are in work than out of work (10). 68 per cent of the people hit by David Cameron’s one per cent cap on working age benefits and tax credits are working (11)

 

9.  Changes to rules on working tax credits have left some families with children better off out of work (12) and cuts to childcare support mean that families have lost up to £1,500 a year (13)

 

10.  The number of people who want to work full time but can only get a part time job has risen by 350,000 under this government (14) and the number of people earning less than a living wage has risen from 3.6 million in 2010 to 4.8 million in 2012 (15) and is now more than 5 million (16)

LABOUR PARTY