Friday 20 September 2013

One cheer for Ed Miliband on under-occupation* cut

It's good to see him come down off the fence. A black mark, though, for making policy on the hoof. One assumes that the coming Labour conference will endorse the move, but will wonder why they have been starved of serious policy proposals for a year or more. There is also doubt about his calculation of alternative savings. Conservative ministers have already responded that this is another attack on people's pensions. Why not be bold, and repeat what other Labourites have been saying, that the saving in cutting the housing benefit will cause costs elsewhere in the system?

* The official term, and the one that was used by Labour ministers when they introduced the cut in the local housing allowance.

1 comment:

Frank Little said...

While he's at it, perhaps Miliband would apologise for introducing the inhumane Work Capability Assessment.