PM needs to confirm if he made “insulting” pocket money analogy and if so apologise

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Responding to reporting in the Times that it was the Prime Minister who first made the analogy at a meeting of the cabinet that the Government’s welfare reforms could be compared to taking away a child’s pocket money, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesperson Steve Darling MP, who himself is registered blind, said:

“The Prime Minister needs to urgently confirm whether he suggested this insulting analogy and if so immediately apologise to the millions whose lives his welfare reforms will have made even more challenging.

“Everything about these reforms paints the picture of a Government at real risk of losing its moral compass.

“We all accept that the welfare bill needs to be managed down but these cruel cuts are not the right approach. They take support away from many who can’t work or care for those who can’t, all whilst saying the goal of them is to get people into work. It is nonsensical.

“If the Government was serious about bringing the welfare bill down it would start by fixing the crisis in social care.“

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The reporting in the Times can be found here.