Nick Clegg and Iain Duncan Smith face backlash

Published: 18th November, 2010
by DAN CARRIER

A LINE of police officers divided Nick Clegg and Iain Duncan Smith from protesters as they visited a homeless hostel in Camden Town.

Protesters against cuts to benefits waited outside with placards on Thursday as Deputy Prime Minister Mr Clegg and Tory Welfare Minister Mr Duncan Smith used a conference room in Arlington House, in Arlington Road, to launch new plans to force people to complete unpaid work if they can’t find employment. Jobseekers will be ordered to work 30 hours a week for free or risk having benefits stripped away.

Anne-Marie O’Reilly, from the London Coalition Against Poverty, said she had come to ask Mr Clegg, leader of the Lib Dems, to re-think the policy. She said: “The government has attacked the rights of people more and more, and so we have come to tell Nick Clegg and Iain Duncan Smith that we think this government is punishing the poor. Housing benefit cuts will hit the poorest hardest, and, coupled with these benefit changes, many will not be able to afford to live in London any more.”

Ms O’Reilly said that with a shortage of jobs available in Camden, the government’s reforms would make life even harder for those struggling to make ends meet.

She added: “Iain Duncan Smith came to talk about making work pay, but what he is really talking about is making people so desperate they will take any job going. 

“There is going to be a whole new level of forced labour, making people work for nothing for 30 hours a week. It will have the added effect of driving wages down. The way to get people back into work is not to punish unfortunate people on benefits but to provide decent jobs and homes.”

The scene outside the hostel became tense as officers forcibly removed the peaceful protest from the pavement while inside the two politicians unveiled policies they described as the “biggest welfare shake-up since the Beveridge report” at a breakfast where journalists and staff were offered fresh coffee, orange juice, fairy cakes and pastries. 

Mr Duncan Smith, who met people receiving training from charity Broadway in skills such as carpentry, told the New Journal that fears the changes would simply mean less money for those in need as unemployment rises were unfounded. 

He said the reforms would offer better incentives for finding work.

“I am not cutting benefits,” said Mr Duncan Smith. “Our plans for a universal credit will leave people with more of the cash they earn.”

He dismissed the idea the government should raise the minimum wage and protect social housing at all costs, adding: “London has become one of the most expensive places to live, and our welfare reforms will help people get off benefits. 

“Our housing benefits reform will push rents down and will tackle the problem of some people who are simply not willing to work and are permanently claiming benefits. 

“Camden has become one of the most expensive places to live in and the cost of properties have risen. Our changes to the housing benefit system will mean rents will fall as housing benefit pushed up the demand – and therefore the cost.”