Latest editorial
[Lianhao Qu / Creative Commons]
CAMPAIGNERS have accused the government of slipping amendments into the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill that grant welfare surveillance powers.
The amendments will enable the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to spy on the bank accounts of anyone receiving benefits, according to the Open Rights Group.
The targets could include the 12.6 million people on the state pension, as well as those who claim child benefit, universal credit and disability living allowance.
Plans to delay access to the universal credit health element until age 22 have triggered fierce opposition from disabled people’s groups, who warn it would deepen poverty and entrench discrimination against young disabled people under the guise of ‘encouraging work.’ DYLAN MURPHY reports
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
The government’s retreat on PIP still leaves 150,000 new universal credit claimants facing halved benefits from April 2026, creating a discriminatory two-tier welfare system that campaigners must continue fighting, writes DR DYLAN MURPHY
