Our top news stories
Jeremy Corbyn's benefits pledge for the self-employed may hide a tax hike
The new Labour leader wants to catch the self-employed in the welfare state's safety net, but he has to pay for it. Speaking at Party Conference yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn called for the welfare state to spread its safety net a little wider to catch the self-employed. Under a Labour Government, he suggested, self-employed construction workers, locum nurses, taxi drivers and even the odd Tax QC will get sick pay and maternity or paternity pay.
Alex Neil’s fury at case of disabled man bullied by DWP
A severely disabled victim of the Tory’s ruthless welfare reforms and his family have met Scotland’s Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil for the first time to discuss ways of working together to save other vulnerable people suffering under the new system.
The National exclusively revealed earlier this month how Stuart Chester, who has Down’s syndrome and autism, cannot speak, read, wash or clothe himself, has been ordered to prove he is unfit for work.
Pension system needs reform, says PwC
The pension system in its current form fails to provide an incentive for people to save, accountancy firm PwC has argued. The complexity of pensions is putting people off saving - particularly women and younger workers, a survey by PwC suggests.
Corbyn commits to council housing
The Labour Party’s new leader has pledged to start a very large council house building programme.
In his maiden address as Leader of the Opposition, Corbyn told delegates at the party conference that housing was a core commitment and that he had been given a “mandate for change to introduce a kinder, more inclusive politics”.
Why the Work Programme didn’t get Sarah a job
The government’s flagship welfare-to-work programme institutionalises bullying, interrupted only by undirected job searches.
Sarah left college in 2011, aged 19, with minimal qualifications and has struggled to find work. Now, she is what is called a “returner”, one of the thousands of people who spent two years on the government’s flagship Work Programme and still failed to find a job.