Iain Duncan Smith. Photograph courtesy of USDL
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has been challenged to fulfil his claim that he could live on £53 a week benefits, saying “If I had to, I would” when defending a vast array of benefit reforms that are being introduced this week.
The question was put to Duncan Smith on Radio 4 following an example of market-trader David Bennett, who claimed he was left with £53 a week to live on and similar to the lowest rate of jobseeker’s allowance given to adults under 25. His claim prompted the creation of an online petition calling on him to prove his claim, which has reached 146,000 signatories when this article was published.
Defending the welfare reforms such as the “bedroom tax”, Duncan Smith claimed that the housing benefit bill had doubled in ten years under the previous Labour government, and 250,000 people were living in overcrowded social housing, whilst others had spare rooms – something he described as “unfair”.
More than 650,000 social housing tenants are deemed to have a spare room and will lose an average £14 a week under these reforms, and changes to council tax benefit will see two million people paying for the first time according to anti-poverty campaigners.