Latest editorial
A ROW between Labour and the SNP over the Smith Commission proposals on devolution escalated yesterday as it emerged that welfare measures had been dropped from the final agreement.
According to BBC reports, a late draft of the commission's recommendations included devolving the power to vary universal credit - but the proposal did not make it into the final version.
Other benefits, including disability living allowance (DLA) and the personal independence payment (PIP) that replaces it, attendance allowance and carer's allowance, are to be devolved under the Smith plan.
Labour will find increases in the state pension age are unacceptable, just as cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance, personal independence payments and universal credit are — it needs to change direction immediately, writes PCS general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE
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
