Government and ‘independent expertise’: think tanks represent a blind spot for critical analysis


Drawing on recent research about UK think tanks, austerity and social policy, Hartwig Pautz and Elke Heins examine the relationship between government and the world of ‘independent expertise’. Focusing on one example, the Centre for Social Justice’s influence over Conservative ministers’ social policies, they … Continue reading

Two real-life accounts of the effect of benefits sanctions (The Conversation) (Video)


Peter Dwyer, University of York The Department for Work and Pensions has admitted that the quotes they presented from two benefit claimants extolling the virtues of sanctions were made up. Video is not part of the original article The DWP … Continue reading

Rewriting history with the Tories – The Tory party’s online revisionism (video)


If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will be familiar with the Conservative party’s attempts to mislead the public about the nature and effect of their policies. You will also know that Lynton Crosby, Grant Shapps, Iain … Continue reading

In 2015, whether it’s abuse, poverty or disability, we are all survivors and we are stronger together (video)


For the tens of thousands of abuse survivors and current victims of abuse seeking justice, 2014 may yet turn out to have been the critical time when politicians and the judiciary began to take the plague of widespread child abuse seriously.  With a few notable … Continue reading

Iain Duncan Smith’s Universal Jobmatch is a Monster failure (video)


The risk of fraudulent, misleading and confusing ads appearing on the government’s Universal Jobmatch website is higher than private equivalents, according to the National Audit Office. Unmodified Video © Channel 4 News / ITN “Channel 4 News has obtained a 10-page document by … Continue reading

Lynton Crosby’s Tory spin machine is a cancer at the heart of the British government (video)


The Australian tobacco lobbyist, Lynton Crosby, is the Conservative party’s political PR ‘guru’ and his spin machine is out of control.  His strategy to win an election involves drumming-up hatred of immigrants and the poor and ‘managing’ the news agenda to … Continue reading

Iain Duncan Smith’s Tinker Bell statistics (video)


Regular readers of this blog will know that Iain Duncan Smith is a notorious liar.  There is no point being euphemistic about it because the facts are clear. When confronted about his lies his excuse is that he “believes” that what he … Continue reading

Do you want the truth from your government or just what a minister says he ‘believes’ to be true? (video)


“The Prime Minister doesn’t want the truth, he wants something he can tell Parliament” (Sir Humphrey Appleby, Yes Minister) First published 27 July 2013 Last week David Cameron made the most of the opportunity to claim that his party’s policies on … Continue reading

Food stamps are supposed to help the poor not remove their dignity (video)


Clips from the recent parliamentary debate on the causes of the increased use of food banks can be found towards the end of this post.  The debate was largely ignored by broadcast TV news on the day so you may well be unaware … Continue reading

World At One: Embarrassing DEFRA report on food banks finally released (video)


The DEFRA report into why there has been such a huge increase in the use of food banks in the UK was quietly released this morning, some 11 months after it was commissioned and 8 months after it was completed. … Continue reading

Iain Duncan Smith’s DWP forcing jobseekers to use government website riddled with fraudulent job ads (video)


The government’s Jobmatch website is carrying bogus vacancies from nine online recruitment agencies run by a Baptist deacon in Coventry, who makes money by encouraging visitors to post their CVs. More than 11,000 positions currently advertised on the government’s Universal … Continue reading

Newsnight 6 Jan 2014: Conservative party double down on their war on the poor (video)


There is nothing that I need add to this clip from Newsnight.  The nasty party is back and it is taking no prisoners.   Related articles Fergus Wilson: This is what happens when when welfare is withdrawn and unregulated scumbag … Continue reading

Fergus Wilson: This is what happens when welfare is withdrawn and unregulated scumbag landlords are allowed to dictate which of us deserves a home (video)

Screw the battered wives! I want my rent!

Last night we saw one of the biggest scumbags in Britain tell Channel 4 News how unfortunate it was that Conservative party led restrictions on housing benefit means that he has to evict benefit claimants from his properties and put … Continue reading

Iain Duncan Smith and Esther McVey sneer, laugh and then vanish as commons debates why Britain’s desperate poor are forced to use food banks (video)


Clips from the recent parliamentary debate on the causes of the increased use of food banks can be found towards the end of this post.  The debate was largely ignored by broadcast TV news on the day so you may well be unaware … Continue reading

Iain Duncan Smith’s explosive row with LBC’s James O’Brien (Audio)


Whilst hunting for evidence to support the premise of my next post (if you are interested it is that the government, especially IDS, are in denial about why there has been an explosion in food bank usage in the UK) I … Continue reading