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   Gov't goes to extraordinary lengths to pass Welfare Reform Bill
by Tom Rodgers
In a troubling move the coalition government has invoked rare Parliamentary procedure to stop the House of Lords from amending the upcoming Welfare Reform Bill. The Lords have sent Ian Duncan-Smith's Bill back to the House of Commons an amazing seven times for amendments. The Conservative MP has had to continually soften the reforms to rescue his plans from the bin and has faced a mountain of criticism from the upper house. Now, the invoking of 'financial privilege' means that the government will annul the seven adjustments to reform the Bill and prevent further challenges from peers. The disagreements over the Bill have come from the Lords taking exception to welfare reform cuts for some of the most vulnerable groups in the country. The most recent challenge from peers sought to exclude Child Benefit from a £26,000 cap on benefits for families. Local MP Barbara Keeley has slammed the move, saying: "I think it is wrong that the Conservative-led government has used this rare Parliamentary procedure to stop any further debate or amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill. "Labour Peers, Crossbench peers and Bishops had, for example, won amendments to exempt cancer sufferers from being forced to seek work after 12 months when, by then, they may not have recovered. "Other amendments were to say that landlords could not force a family out of a property unless there was another smaller property for them to go to." Further amendments also sought to take away charging for parents forced to use the Child Support Agency to get maintenance for their children. Conservative MP Chris Grayling, employment minister for the Department for Work and Pensions said the public "overwhelmingly" supported the Government's position. The Welfare Reform Bill includes some startling points, including forcing councils and local authorities - themselves facing huge cuts - to take on the mantle of the Social Fund. The Social Fund pays for emergency expenses for people on very low incomes, including funeral costs, maternity grants and crisis loans for families who are forced to change their housing situation. Ms Keeley added that the government seemed to "have its priorities wrong". She said: "The Tories and Liberal Democrats seem determined to make the most vulnerable people suffer while allowing bankers to take exorbitant salaries and bonuses." Original source: guardian.co.uk Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
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