Crawley Liberal Democrats - Working for Crawley the whole year round

Lib Dems fight Labour's Benefits privatisation

1.23.50pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 20th Mar 2007

Pound coins

The Government was forced last night in the House of Lords to back down on plans that could have given private contractors the power to cut benefits.

A joint Liberal Democrat and Conservative amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill will ensure that any privatisation of the benefits system specifically excludes the powers to sanction an individual's benefits. The Liberal Democrats raised serious concerns that, without these changes, the Bill leaves open the possibility of wholesale privatisation of the benefits system.

Commenting on the victory, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions Spokesperson Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott said "Vulnerable people must be protected from private contractors cutting their benefits. Privatising these powers would be an unacceptable abdication of responsibility by the Government."

Bookmark this story at: del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg FacebookFacebook LibDigLibDig redditreddit StumbleUponStumbleUpon
Print this news story.
Previous news story: Crawley's recycled plastic is not alone (Fri 16th Mar 2007).
Next news story: Iraq War - Campbell calls on Blair to apologise (Tue 20th Mar 2007).

Printed and hosted by Prater Raines Ltd, 82b Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BX.
Published and promoted by Crawley Liberal Democrats, 12 Green Lane, Northgate, Crawley RH10 8JP.
The views expressed are those of the party, not of the service provider.