No More Welfare Cuts?

West Midlands #foodbank says it's seen an 'unprecedented' surge in demand https://t.co/DDHcXiAOq8 pic.twitter.com/zYynAEG5hi

— I was a JSA claimant (@imajsaclaimant) September 17, 2016

And there’s this:

DWP slashes funding for disability supported housing and homeless hostels https://t.co/o1qp5ojzuF

— The Independent (@Independent) September 15, 2016

 Now there’s this….

No more welfare cuts to come under Theresa May, says minister

Damian Green, the work and pensions secretary, hints at end to austerity agenda, promising no further raids on benefits

There will be no more welfare cuts under Theresa May’s government after those have already been announced, the work and pensions secretary, Damian Green, has announced.

Strongly hinting that the government’s austerity agenda was over, Green told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show planned cuts would continue but there would be no further raids on benefits.

Green said his tenure in the department would be different from Iain Duncan Smith, his predecessor before Stephen Crabb, who quit over his distaste for disability benefit cuts. “I am different from Iain – I will use different language,” he said.

“But I know we both share the desire for increasing social justice, by which we mean … that you don’t just measure it by the benefits bill, you measure it by the help you are giving those individuals.

“The commitment that the prime minister has made since she took office has been that obviously we will meet the previous commitments we’ve made,” he said. “But there will be no new search for cuts in individual welfare benefits.”

Green added: “You’re right that the period of austerity meant that tough decisions had to be taken across the board, not just in the welfare system. There are things that have been announced that haven’t yet been introduced but people know that they are coming. But no new cuts.”

Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson, an 11-time Paralympic gold medallist, was among those who spoke out in the House of Lords against the controversial welfare reform bill, which proposes to cut disability benefits by £30 a week.

The work and pensions secretary said the government’s overall attitude to welfare had not changed but appeared to acknowledge there had been some mistakes, including people being wrongly assessed as fit for work. “The simple thrust is making sure work always pays,” Green said.

Meanwhile:

Disabled activists have been promised a seat “at the heart of government” if Jeremy Corbyn is re-elected as Labour leader and the party wins power at the next election.

The pledge was made by shadow chancellor John McDonnell at an international disability rights conference hosted by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), the final event in its Rights Not Games week of action.

McDonnell, who made repeated references to the need to co-produce policies with disabled people during his speech, told the conference in London that it would be vital to ensure that disabled people were represented “at every level of decision-making”.

He added: “That will mean bringing organisations like DPAC and others into government to advise us on the development of policy so you will be at the heart of government, sitting alongside ministers and others, advising them on how to implement these policies.”

And he promised that DPAC would also have “a fundamental role in advising us on the policies that need to be developed” by Labour in preparation for government.

He added: “You will be advising us on what priorities there are when we go back into government… for those people who say that this country can’t afford a decent living for disabled people we have got to challenge that as well.”