IDS Benefits Claim Attacked

Labour has branded the Government's record on unemployment "a totem of incompetence", as Iain Duncan Smith claims that one million people capable of working are stuck on benefits.  The Work and Pensions Secretary is to release new figures showing the number of long-term claimants of unemployment and other benefit payments.  Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne derided what he called "Iain Duncan Smith’s new strategy for the long-term unemployed: blame the unemployed".  Mr Byrne said: "In a sea of failure this government’s record on long-term unemployment is a totem of incompetence. The number of people out for work for more than two years has doubled in the last year, now a staggering four times higher than in 2010."  Read more on the Politics Home website.