Universal Credit has several objectives, some more, some less explicit. Overall, these seem to fall within two categories: increasing employment … Continue reading “Universal Credit: what went wrong? (Part 1: the implementation)”

There has been a lot of speculation about where the Conservatives’ headline £12bn of welfare savings should come from. I … Continue reading “Cutting £12bn from the welfare bill? Easy as pie. Here’s how”

There can be no doubt that spending on working-age benefits is out of control. Over the past decade alone, spending … Continue reading “Chancellor continues his ‘Edward Scissorhands’ approach to cuts”

In a more rational world, planning reform would not be a tribal issue. It would, on the contrary, be an … Continue reading “A simple answer to the housing shortage: Relax the planning strait-jacket”

41% – 3%. 27% – 0.7%. 48% – 27.8% Do these figures ring a bell? You have probably come across … Continue reading “The left is more deluded about welfare than the general public”

Yesterday saw the government announce the latest in a line of restrictions on the benefits immigrants can claim. New jobless … Continue reading “Migrant benefit reform: doing the right thing for all of the wrong reasons”

In his speech in east London yesterday, Ed Miliband hoped to reframe the debate by outlining a distinctively Labour approach … Continue reading “Ed Miliband’s vision for future Labour welfare policies fell apart in the detail”

Nobody quite remembers when and why this law originally came to pass, but at some point in the distant past, … Continue reading “Housing and bread: an analogy”

The previous government made the mistake of trying to reduce poverty without paying attention to the supply side factors driving … Continue reading “Fiddling with Housing Benefit won’t solve the cost explosion”