Last night, 22nd January, 2012, Chris Grayling, the Conservative-led coalition government's employment minister said, while defending the government's Welfare Reform Bill, that the reforms would force poorer families to find new accommodation. Mr Grayling argued these were families "who would have to move to a part of town they can afford to live in, but," he insisted, "surely that is right."
These remarks are a consequence of the government's decision to place a £500 per week cap on the welfare benefits any family can receive regardless of the family's size can. Opponents of this aspect of the Reform Bill - who include among their number, bishops of the Church of England and some members of the Liberal Democrat party, including its former leader Lord Ashdown - argue that this cap places children who are born into a larger family at a disadvantage.
Sources : "The Independent" at http//independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/welfare-reforms and Pienaar's Politics broadcast on BBC 5 live on January 22nd, 2012.
January 23rd, late news extra : the House of Lords has voted against the £500 a week cap but government ministers remain determined to push the £500 cap through the House of Commons.
Source : BBC Radio 5 live news, 20.30, January 23rd, 2012.
This news and opinion item first appeared on January 22nd, 2012 on the goodenoughcaring website homepage at http://www.goodenoughcaringcom
