THE POOR GET POORER

Governments always claim in times of economic downturn that "we are all in this together", but it is significant that it is the poor and needy who always suffer most. "Millions of benefit claimants are about to lose £1 billion of increases planned for next year after the Government decided to break the historic link between inflation and welfare payments. The Times has learnt that key ministers, including Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pension Secretary, have agreed that 5.7 million people claiming benefit for the unemployed will each lose hundreds of pounds a year." (Times, 18 November) The report then goes on to claim that the government hope to save £10 billion a year with changes in the benefit system. RD