IDS reappointed as Work and Pensions Secretary

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3075985/Iain-Duncan-Smith-wins-battle-complete-welfare-reforms-PM-ignores-critics-allow-Work-Pensions-Secretary-stay-job.html

More slash and burn. This will not go down well.

It says he wants to complete his welfare reforms. Complete what?!

Reply 1

sdotd

17

good news, we need more welfare cuts starting with reducing child benefit to 2 children

Reply 2

senz72

19

This guy is a tool. I'm just outside of his constituency. No-one likes him.

This is coming from someone who voted Conservative in the last election.

Reply 3

miscounted_time

8

Original post by sdotd

good news, we need more welfare cuts starting with reducing child benefit to 2 children

Yes, but IDS has the quite the penchant for picking on the sick and disabled. I understand they are to bear the brunt of the cuts yet again with PIP being made taxable and the suicide safety net being removed etc.

He's also to make the already controversial "fit to work test" (which has already seen many people who were genuinely unfit to work being declared fit) even harsher.

And apparently all these attacks on the disabled have saved next to nothing anyway.

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Reply 4

Clip

19

Original post by Lady Comstock

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3075985/Iain-Duncan-Smith-wins-battle-complete-welfare-reforms-PM-ignores-critics-allow-Work-Pensions-Secretary-stay-job.html

More slash and burn. This will not go down well.

It says he wants to complete his welfare reforms. Complete what?!

He's committed to it. After he stepped down as leader, he threw himself into W&P more or less full time and genuinely wants to sort it out. You might not agree with him, but he understands the brief better than most, and unlike most understands the scale of the thing. A lot of people just throw the numbers about and talk about cuts or the poor or whatever, without realising we're talking about the majority of the UK budget. £11,000 per second or something.

Reply 5

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Lady Comstock

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3075985/Iain-Duncan-Smith-wins-battle-complete-welfare-reforms-PM-ignores-critics-allow-Work-Pensions-Secretary-stay-job.html

More slash and burn. This will not go down well.

It says he wants to complete his welfare reforms. Complete what?!

He needs a strong junior minister with a commitment to delivery.

The problem with IDS is that he believes what his senior civil servants tell him. There is no management by walking around. Hence he is caught unawares every time the bureaucrats, particularly the IT men, fail

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 6

Falcatas

9

I can't wait to taste all the left wing tears.

Reply 7

whorace

2

I can't stop laughing

So angry and scared.

Weren't there rumours Cameron was trying to move him out after the last cabinet shuffle? Wonder what changed.

Reply 10

Everglow

19

Can't be much worse than reappointing Nicky Morgan as Education Secretary or appointing Michael Gove as the Justice Secretary. I do wonder what goes through Dave's head.

Reply 11

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Aj12

Weren't there rumours Cameron was trying to move him out after the last cabinet shuffle? Wonder what changed.

Apparently he wouldn't go to Justice. this is the only job in government he wants. I suspect he would have moved if there had been a crisis somewhere, but there wasn't.

Hooray!

Original post by Reluire

Can't be much worse than reappointing Nicky Morgan as Education Secretary or appointing Michael Gove as the Justice Secretary. I do wonder what goes through Dave's head.

Morgan has been a success as Education Secretary calming the department down.

I'm not sure about Gove at Justice. His job is to get the HRA repeal through; not pick a row with the legal profession and judiciary. I think he will find it easier to pick the row than get the job done.

I think Gove would have been better replacing Cable.

Reply 14

A Mysterious Lord

20

Original post by miscounted_time

And apparently all these attacks on the disabled have saved next to nothing anyway.

Not a surprise, it's ideological rather than economic.

For example, the government gives away more in foreign aid every year than it received from the one-off sell off of Royal Mail. It was a minuscule return but they did it because that's what Tories do.

Tories gonna Tory.

Reply 15

wizardtop

15

Original post by nulli tertius

He needs a strong junior minister with a commitment to delivery.

The problem with IDS is that he believes what his senior civil servants tell him. There is no management by walking around. Hence he is caught unawares every time the bureaucrats, particularly the IT men, fail

Posted from TSR Mobile

I had a feeling the PM was going to keep IDS in the role of work and Pensions Secretary however i totally disagree with their plans on welfare reform,They are going to continue discriminating against the most vulnerable in society just for the sake of saving a few billions here and there.What about those disabled who are unfit to go back to work,they still disabled and that wont change but they will be therefore expected to go back to work.
It doesn't make any sense to me nulli tertius and this assessment system they use to assess the disabled is a unfair system.They might have got rid of Atos and replaced that company with a different one,however they still have the same staff(Atos)working for the new company mainly because they wasnt any time to get the required staff in place.
It comes down to money and cost.

Reply 16

nulli tertius

21

Original post by wizardtop

I had a feeling the PM was going to keep IDS in the role of work and Pensions Secretary however i totally disagree with their plans on welfare reform,They are going to continue discriminating against the most vulnerable in society just for the sake of saving a few billions here and there.What about those disabled who are unfit to go back to work,they still disabled and that wont change but they will be therefore expected to go back to work.
It doesn't make any sense to me nulli tertius and this assessment system they use to assess the disabled is a unfair system.They might have got rid of Atos and replaced that company with a different one,however they still have the same staff(Atos)working for the new company mainly because they wasnt any time to get the required staff in place.
It comes down to money and cost.

I do know something about the ESA system.

There are hundreds of thousands of people with the same conditions as many of those claiming ESA (and particularly those who have still not yet been reassessed from Incapacity Benefit) in work.

When that is raised, the response that is usually given is that "there are no jobs". Apart from that being patently untrue, we pay JSA to people who are able to work but can't find work. If people can work thy should not be receiving ESA.

The ESA system isn't perfect by any means. It was created with an ambiguity at its heart which needs to be eliminated.

There are two groups; the Support Group and the Work Related Activity Group. The government suggests that people in the WRAG should be getting better and into work, hence they should be doing work related activity and the non-means tested benefit is time limited. People in the Support Group have chronic conditions and are not to be expected to work.

However the Work Capability Assessment fails to draw that distinction. The WCA largely distinguishes between the seriousness of conditions rather than whether they are chronic. A person with mild emphysema might be in the WRAG; but he isn't going to get better. If he can work now, he should be on JSA and if he can't work now, he ought to be in the Support Group. If someone who is wheelchair bound loses their employment, they will qualify for the Support Group. Why? They are clearly employable.

Reply 17

Rakas21

21

Welfare is the one issue i think the party is pretty bad on. I am very disappointed that IDS is not out on his ass.

Reply 18

Rakas21

21

Original post by Aj12

Weren't there rumours Cameron was trying to move him out after the last cabinet shuffle? Wonder what changed.

Apparently it's Osbourne that hates him (reported to have basically said he's not smart enough to do the job) so i suspect Cameron's rather neutral and caught in the middle unlike May-Gove where he sided with May although he's obviously brought Gove back.

Reply 19

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Rakas21

Apparently it's Osbourne that hates him (reported to have basically said he's not smart enough to do the job) so i suspect Cameron's rather neutral and caught in the middle unlike May-Gove where he sided with May although he's obviously brought Gove back.

He isn't bright, but he has a heart.

The Tories have been burdened with welfare ministers (John Moore, Peter Lilley) whose vision seemed to be no greater than finding a way to save another farthing. It is perfectly obvious that IDS is on a moral crusade.

Conversely Labour had a revolving door; 10 ministers in 13 years.

IDS reappointed as Work and Pensions Secretary

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