Is George under the influence?

Is George Osborne losing his bottle on welfare reform?

 

Incapacity Benefit and Employment Support Allowance is a very large budget. Yes, we have got to look at all these things, make sure we do it in a way that protects those with genuine needs, those with disabilities, protects those who can’t work but also encourages those who can work into work.

 

Now I frequent a local hostelry where the public bar has been renamed the UB40 bar as it is full of people on the dole – why not attach extra conditions for claiming benefit to claimants addicted to drugs or alcohol? Surely it is wrong that addiction is classed as a disability (after all arguably it is self-inflicted) and that it gets you a higher payment with which to pay for your drink or drugs is ridiculous. Why not at least make addiction treatment compulsory on pains of a benefit penalty? There’s undoubtedly a moral case for this and would be supported by all right minded people.

 

We put this very idea forward before the election but accepted it might take time but lo and behold a press release from the DWP on rethinking how to deal with addicts on benefit which includes abandoning pilots of compulsory treatment which were proposed as part of Labour’s reforms.