#IDS and #Government under fire for massaging #unemployment figures via #BenefitSanctions @Debbie_abrahams Amid angry scenes in UK Parliament, The Labour Party MP Debbie Abrahams referred to a study which suggests 500,000 #sanctioned people were excluded despite not finding #work. Iain Duncan Smith came under fire today after a study suggested #cruel #benefit #sanctions may be helping 10 Downing Street massage #JoblessFigures. Campaigning Labour MP Debbie Abrahams asked the Conservatives Minister how many people were excluded from unemployment figures after being sanctioned but not going into work. The MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth said in parliament: “People have died after being sanctioned, Minister.” The research suggests more than 500,000 #JobSeekersAllowance (JSA) claimants have disappeared from #UnemploymentStatistics, without finding work, since the sanctions regime was toughened in October, 2012. This could mean that, in August 2014, the #ClaimantCount – which is used to gauge unemployment – could have hit ONE MILLION instead of being at 970,000. “Sanctions are being applied unfairly to job-seekers, as well as the sick and disabled,” Ms Abrahams said. “The reason David Camerons Government is doing this is that it gets them off the JSA claimant figures, so it looks like there are fewer people #unemployed.”
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 14:23:53 +0000
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