We will stop paying people to be idle: an interview with Iain Duncan Smith

“When you sneer at somebody who stacks shelves, you sneer at the whole cycle of work, and that’s not good.”

David Cameron must take up the Politics of Yes

The Prime Minister can best beat Miliband by proposing a positive vision of what Britain should be.

Who is winning the Coalition? Us or the Lib Dems?

Now that both parties are fighting to take credit for the coalition's achievements, rather than seeking to blame each other… Read more »

Centralisation plus complexity: a fatal formula for welfare reform

According to the National Audit Office, the Government’s flagship welfare reform policy – Universal Credit – is in trouble. The… Read more »

Fewer and equal seats. The benefits and immigration cap. And shale gas. High priorities from Tory members for any Coalition talks

By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. I reported yesterday that the top "red line" for Conservative Party members for any… Read more »

The BBC reports “softening attitudes on benefits” – but the polling numbers say the opposite

By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. Yesterday I looked at new polling suggesting the young are more radical than their elders when… Read more »

More evidence that young voters are shifting to the right – this time on the welfare state

By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. A growing dataset has emerged over the last few months suggesting a rightwards shift among the… Read more »

The small stuff that’s preventing the Government from delivering the big stuff (such as Universal Credit)

This isn’t exactly a boom time for that commodity called “government competence”. After the National Audit Office’s uncomplimentary prose about the delivery of… Read more »

IDS is pressing ahead with Universal Credit by 2017

By Harry PhibbsFollow Harry on Twitter A difficult day for the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith with a critical… Read more »

IDS, the one-man labour party – in the real sense of the word

By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. The formidable Conservative backbench support for transferable tax allowances shows how crucial marriage is… Read more »

Good news for the Government in the new labour market statistics

By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. The latest labour market statistics from the ONS contains five key pieces of good news for… Read more »

The benefits cap goes nationwide today – another reminder that welfare will feature heavily in 2015

By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter And the word of the day is “cap”, as in “benefits cap”. You might have… Read more »

The eligibility age for welfare benefits should be raised to 21

By Harry PhibbsFollow Harry on Twitter The Times journalist Daniel Finkelstein is a bright and engaging fellow. Reading his stuff is… Read more »

Esther McVey MP on the new Personal Independence Payment

The EU Commission is the gift that keeps on giving

By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter.  Iain Duncan Smith has received a special delivery: a big present, gift-wrapped in blue paper and… Read more »