The 'Quiet Man' imports the US 'soup kitchen' culture for the poor

11 November 2010

The coalition's welfare reform proposals aim to create a division between what they see as the 'deserving' versus the 'undeserving poor', which will herald a US-style 'soup kitchen' culture, Unite, the largest union in the country, said today.

Unite was commenting on the plans by work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith – the self-confessed 'Quiet Man' of British politics – which will mean that claimants moving into work will keep more of their income than now, but face losing benefits if they refuse a job.

Unite Assistant general secretary for public services, Gail Cartmail said: 'The atmosphere being created is of a division between the 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor.'

'We deny that such division exists. The income inequality in the UK is wider than most other OECD countries – those developed countries with whom the UK can most easily compare. This is because of low pay and gender discrimination, especially against part-time women workers.'

'Government policy is pushing people into joblessness – the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) latest forecast is 1.6m. The sums do not add up - divide unemployed into vacancies and there remains a lack of jobs already.'

'Looking into the future the predicted joblessness is on a level not seen since the dole queues of the last Tory era of the 1980s.'

'But it is far more complex than benefit dependency and low aspiration - housing, education and health inequalities are all massive factors - all big ticket issues, also under concerted attack by this government.'

Unite is also concerned that Iain Duncan Smith will lose out in the Whitehall 'turf war' with Chancellor George Osborne to get the extra funds to make his plan for a single universal credit viable. This is due to replace the current work-related benefits.'

Gail Cartmail said: 'Nobody believes for a second that Osborne wants to help the poor, so how can Duncan Smith convince people that the money will be there?’

'The coalition's ultimate vision is taking shape: a massive shift to a low-waged, low skill economy where we compete with emerging economies, not on skills and innovation, but on the huge pool of workers to hire-and-fire.'

'No-one wants to see this country's talents languish on the dole. Ministers are importing their ideas from US – the land of the food box and soup kitchen. Already in America, we can see the social and human agonies caused when welfare is withdrawn at a time when dole queues are lengthening.'

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