At every opportunity, Iain Duncan Smith and other Conservative ministers seek to give the impression that they’re reducing the number of benefit claimants, counterposing themselves to Labour – “the welfare party”. But as so often, the statistics tell a different story.
The latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that the number of housing benefit claimants rose by 40,526 to 5.1 million in the year to May 2013, an increase of 320,738 since the coalition came to power. Of the total, nearly a million (987,610) are in work, a rise of 52 per cent (337,059) since May 2010.
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There is a better way to reduce the benefit bill than the coalition’s salami-slicing: building 1.25 million affordable homes over five years (the level required to meet need), extending use of the living wage and investing more in skills and training. After the government’s failure, it will be up to Labour to demonstrate it.
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