Commenting ahead of the publication of the government’s green paper on welfare reform, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said today (Monday):
“Bad decisions taken by previous Conservative administrations have left the Labour government in a corner financially.
“But that’s no excuse for ministers to go after the most vulnerable and contemplate freezing personal independence payments.
“If the government wants to cut welfare spending, the focus should be on making work pay. That means acting against employers paying poverty wages and supporting those able to work into the jobs market. Not penalising those who are, in many cases, are too ill or disabled to ever work.
“Reports suggest ministers have had a change of heart and are about to ditch their harsh plans to target those on personal independence payments. Let’s hope that proves to be the case. Hitting those least able to speak up for themselves is never acceptable.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
The article Welfare reforms shouldn’t be used to penalise disabled and ill people first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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