Speak to almost any British government minister from the past 15 years, Conservative or Labour, and you might be left with the impression that the sole purpose of the social security system is to get people into work.
Take Labour’s employment minister, Alison McGovern, who earlier this month told the Financial Times that the benefits system is a “serious problem” and must be redrawn so “we increase the possibility, the chance, the likelihood of people moving into work”.
That redrawing is now taking place. After months of rumours, media speculation and spin, we now know that the government plans to make the billions of pounds of savings it has promised by freezing the rate of the main disability benefit, the personal independence payment (PIP), as well as making support harder to access and cutting it for those judged unfit for work.
