Latest editorial
A Universal Credit sign on a door of a job centre plus in east London
PLANS to ban benefit fraudsters from driving and seize money from their bank accounts will create a two-tier justice system that destroys innocent lives, campaigners warned today.
The elderly, disabled and hard-up families would face “totally unprecedented privacy intrusions and punishments” under proposals by the Department for Welfare and Pensions (DWP).
Employment minister Alison McGovern insisted that banning benefit cheats from driving would be a “backstop” used in “extreme” cases ahead of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill’s introduction to Parliament today.
DYLAN MURPHY reports that far from helping people back into work, the sanctions regime is inflicting unnecessary trauma on working-class families
Digital ID means the government could track anyone and then limit their speech, movements, finances — and it could get this all wrong, identifying the wrong people for the wrong reasons, as the numerous digital cockups so far demonstrate, warns DYLAN MURPHY
In the current climate, it is vital to bust the myths and put forward the case for a humane and decent social security system that supports people, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE
