A government bill which proposes to sever the long-standing link between benefits and inflation is “a brutal attack on the poor” which will cause long term damage to the welfare safety net, said Brighton Pavilion's MP today.

The controversial Welfare Benefit Uprating Bill, which seeks to impose a 1% cap on working-age benefit increases until 2016, will see millions of the UK’s poorest working families become worse off.

Speaking in House of Commons debate today, Caroline said:

"This bill is not only a brutal attack on the poor, it also sets in motion far wider damage – deliberately tearing a hole in the welfare safety net which can only unravel further.

"It will hit the poorest in our society the hardest, including the many people in my constituency who are already struggling to make ends meet and coming to my surgeries in a state of desperation.

 "The government has been trying to sell this measure by painting a convenient picture of ‘shirkers’ on benefits – a whole army of lazy scroungers living it up at the state’s expense.

"But in fact more than half of those who receive benefits and will therefore be hard hit by this new legislation are actually in work."

She continued:

"More than that, the government’s underlying argument – that benefit recipients have enjoyed a ‘lavish’ 20% income increase over the past five years – is shamefully misleading.

"In cash terms, what this actually means is that in 2007, Job Seekers Allowance was £59.15 a week. Five years later, by 2012, it had gone up to £71 a week – an increase of 20%.

"So in the past five years, weekly JSA has gone up by around £2.50 each year – in other words, simply keeping up with inflation and with the lower CPI measure at that, since the Coalition came in.

"The Chancellor talks about those on average earnings who have seen only a 10% increase compared to the ‘20% increase’ for the unemployed.

"In fact, for people on average earnings, their weekly take home pay has increased in each of the last five years by around £11, which though unacceptably low in itself, is still nearly four and a half times more than the £2.50 annual increase for those on JSA.

"In this deep economic recession, with many people having lost their jobs through no fault of their own, we should be supporting people through the hard times – not embarrassing, punishing or demonising them.

"‘Getting tough on welfare' is lazy politics which relies on conning the public into thinking the system is much more generous than it is and riddled with fraud.

"According to the TUC, on average, people think that 27% of the welfare budget is claimed fraudulently – the official government figure is 0.7%.

"Ultimately, the bill is a mean, miserable piece of legislation from a mean and miserable government which will likely prove counterproductive, driving more people into destitution – at great cost to the state.

"In light of this reality, it's also incredibly disappointing that Labour has not committed to reversing it if they form a future government."

ENDS

For Caroline’s full comment on Left Foot Forward, please click here.

You can also read her letter to shadow economic secretary Cathy Jamieson here.