Iain Duncan Smith Hints At Welfare Privatisation | Welfare Weekly
We’ve known this was the plan for years. Right?
Iain Duncan Smith has hinted that the future of Britain’s welfare system could rest in the arms of private insurance schemes.
Speaking to the Telegraph, the Work and Pensions Secretary says young people should be encouraged to save into flexible accounts, from which they can then draw out money at times of sickness or unemployment.
The model is very similar to unemployment insurance schemes in the United States, but would work more like systems that exist in the far East – such as ‘Fortune Accounts’ in Singapore.
Source: Iain Duncan Smith Hints At Welfare Privatisation | Welfare Weekly
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With all the cuts that the Tories have made where will young people find the extra money for such a fund? Welfare should be paid out of NI contributions and general taxation.
Well who is winding IDS’s spring up, wouldn’t be Unum by any chance, well there is a surprise, I was waiting for this to happen, how would he expect youngsters on zero hour contracts and workfare to invest into a scheme.
This just confirms the imbeciles insanity, great shame he does not more effort into job creativity with that said probably end up like his hair brained UC attempt, Six years on and he is still testing the water and spending copious amounts of tax payers money,
Well all said and done it’s not his so let’s just squander billions in the process.no wonder Gideon can’t get the deficit down.
And where would the young get the money to pay into this?NOT THOUGHT OUT IDS AGAIN. Do the math you thick man…..housing costs,education costs,food costs that they now have to take a loan out for….or zero hours unreliable income .I thought I couldn’t hate anyone more than I do smug Cameron (and I very rarely have used the word hate in my life)…… but that IDS is one b I feel like smacking to knock some common sense into him. A man who would spend £35 on a breakfast definitely had no idea on how the majority of hard working people and sick people struggle to afford a basic life. PEOPLE DID PUT MONEY ASIDE FOR SICKNESS IT’S CALLED NATIONAL INSURANCE!
I’m livid.
What a good idea we just need name for it. What about National Insurance Con-Trick
Its unums dream come true jeff3
I wonder which Private insurance company he has shares in? If it’s such a good idea why couldn’t the government just take part of the NI contributions and make a bloc investment on our behalf?
Anyway, what chance does someone with pre-existing health conditions have of getting any kind of insurance?
This is all about a criminal insurance corporation called Unum.
Quite, the number of ex Unum employees who have infiltrated government one way or another is quite frankly frightening as is the influence that Mansel Aylward has still proselytising the biopsychosocial model of disability to senior civil servants and politicians on a regular basis.
The same company, I believe, that funded research at Cardiff University that miraculously found that ‘work is good for you’.
You couldn’t make it up.
Yes – it had a faculty there that was named after it, until the University’s guiding lights realised that this was unpopular.
Wouldn’t the government have to change all sorts of laws? like they would need to for the smart card scheme they tried to test? I would have thought that there are several laws to protect us from US style insurance companies, which would not pay out!!!
Haven’t you noticed that the DWP is doing its best not to pay out?
They’ll bypass any difficult laws if they want.
Joanna. This government has shown for over 5 years that they have a total, blatant disregard for the laws of the realm. Any they don’t like, they change.
Personally I think that people should have the option to self insure.
Pensions, health, disability and unemployment.
You can choose either N.I. or an insurance provider.
But if you choose no N.I. whatsoever then thats your choice and don’t expect the state to bail you out.
Lets see what option these right-on types would choose.
Whilst it would be fine for the rich or very rich a lot of people would have very little money to put in such an account and the disabled people would have the least money to put into it.
This was encouraged, if you remember, by the Thatcher and Major govts. Net result? A lot of people, including me, paid into private insurance which was worthless, as despite costing a small fortune, it only paid out for a very short period of time. The model (which I didn’t know at the time, (nor did our advisor enlighten us) in the USA is exactly the same. Hence there are calls there to end the selfish, look after number one and screw everyone else culture that has led to millions living in poverty far greater than we have – for now. If everyone pays tax and NI, everyone benefits. Soon as you stop that, absolute poverty is the result.
If caring about people not being able to afford ‘insurance’ and ending up in a mess means I’m ‘right on’, then fine with me.
Fathomie, Thomas.
If you read my comment you will see that I said there should be a choice between a state backed N.I. scheme and a private insurance backed scheme. You must have one or the other ONLY if you can pay into them. If you are too ill or disabled, you will still be taken care of, regardless of contributions.
I am well aware of the failings of these insurance schemes (think endowments scandal)
I’m sorry that you only ended up with a little amount from your policy but I still think that given the choice, most people would opt for the state rather than the private scheme.
I would also hope that any new scheme is properly regulated.
Sadly, my predictions are all coming horribly true. I said three years ago the following would happen:-
We would end up with no welfare state and an the Tories would roll it back and force us to use private ‘insurance’.
The NHS will be done away with and we will end up with a USA style, free for only the very poorest, health system where millions have no access to it as their ‘insurance’ doesn’t cover it. The USA bear in mind, despite being totally private, and therefore according to right wing wisdom ‘more efficient’, has one of the worst, most expensive, wasteful Health services in the World.
Our State Education system will be broken up and using Academies as the logical springboard, the majority in ‘prosperous’ areas will become private, fee paying schools, again as per the USA model. The rest will become US style ‘Public Schools’ run by Academies for the state, and, with flat line funding, these will become ‘sinkholes’ for the poorest children. Our education system will become split into strict ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ with the govt, as with child poverty, no longer monitoring results at the ‘Public schools’.
Our H&S and employment protection will be stripped away by the govt, allowing employers to do exactly as they please, leading to again (funny how this keeps coming up) a US style low pay, ‘keep your mouth shut or be sacked’, employment culture.
Lastly, with the poor already excluded from the justice system by Graylings, ‘ahem, ‘reforms’, the govt will then turn it’s attention to doing away completely with FoI, closing down ET’s all together, reducing, as in the USA (again!) the number of courts down to the bare minimum, and doing away with ‘fair trading’ so that business is (sic) totally ‘freed’ up.
In other words, welcome to the 51st state!
People that are born disabled or with a genetic illness would find it near impossible to get Insurance. They might be insured on a very highly loaded premium. There is no substitute for the National Insurance and we may well have to raise the contributions in the near future, which, would still be preferable.