“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – right?

But we know that the sanction regime for state benefits is broken. Sanctions don’t work at all. In fact, they cause serious harm to benefit claimants’ financial, physical and mental health – and may push them to death.

So why, instead of getting rid of them altogether, is the government simply reducing the maximum time a sanction may be imposed?

Six months is a long time – certainly long enough to nudge a poverty-stricken benefit claimant towards suicide, as we have seen many times in the past.

And under the Universal Credit system mentioned by Ms Rudd, they are being used against working people for the first time in the UK’s history.

It is another symptom of the Conservative government’s failure that working people are paid so poorly that they must continue claiming benefits.

Labour knows this. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Margaret Greenwood made this clear:

“There is clear evidence that sanctions and excessive conditionality do not help people into sustained employment. They also cause stress and anxiety for many and are one of the key reasons that people ask for help at food banks.

“Labour will scrap the Conservatives’ sanctions regime for good. We will deliver personalised employment support and invest in skills and training to create the decent jobs that people need.”

Oh, and the claim that Universal Credit claimants get personalised support, offering the advice they need – that is a lie. The “support” consists of strong-arm treatment to push people into asking for extra working hours or seeking new jobs that they may never get – and sanctions if they don’t.

And have you ever tried to “interact” with the Job Centre online, by phone or in person?

It is a case study in evasion.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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