It would have been of more interest to know why IDS dismisses the possible link.
I mean what is his evidence that there is not a link and if so what IS the main reaon for the trend.
There will be other factors admitted.

rlFollowed by the ex-Archbishop of Canterburyrl speaking as a patron of a foodbank.

Iain Duncan Smith is a full-weight sociopath with not a semblance of humanity or empathy. Camoron is only keeping him in post to assuage the right wing element

I think the real reason that Cameron keeps him in the post is as a fall guy and firewall - notice how Cameron never gets the criticism even in the left wing press or blogs - the target is always IDS, his past history in the party made him the ideal candidate for the dirty work, he is a proven failure within the party and yet gets one of the top jobs, albeit the job most likely to end your political and personal career.

Having said that, I am growing more convinced that they will be re-elected in 2015 as, if the Murdoch press is to be believed, there are plenty who support measures to curb the sponging, skiving, unworking, £600 per week benefits claiming lower classes.

IDS refused to be sacked. Cameron would not force the issue and this shows he is a weak leader with next to no overall political strategy and/or moral compass and as a consequence IDS carries on despite being what he is.

This means ministers, generally, have a free reign so can go off at whatever tangent they like. I don't think Cameron could stop Hunt or Gove doing whatever they liked to the NHS or Education even if he wanted to. IDS has proved Cameron to be nothing but a front man.

I wonder if it ever crosses the mind of the former Archbishop of Canterbury that this rlstereotypical single motherrl may be a truer reflection of the type of person who turns up at a food bank, pleading poverty?

Undoubtably, not all are as feckless as this one, but I genuinely wonder if we now have a generation who believe it's their "Human Rights," to have a similar life style to those who actually have to graft for their salary. Unlike the good Bishop, I don't see food banks as a bad thing per se, but simply an example of the charitable decency of folk/firms prepared to donate goods, and give up their time freely to staff them.

As for Woonga and the rest, I have absolutely no sympathy for those licensed loan sharks, who I doubt in this case are going to see a penny of their loans being repaid. Any Credit Firm who advances loans to a person whose only source of income is through the Benefit system deserves to face the ridicule from the great British public.

Did he? When was this?

Does the Bishop see them as a bad thing?

They're no better or worse than the 100k+ charities we already have in this country. For some reason people have a bee in their bonnet about them, without ever saying why.

Hundreds of presents for £1,700?
At an average of less than 85p per present, if we are to take the claim literally.
A list which includes items like computer games and TVs.
I need to contact this resourceful young lady, I would like her to do my shopping for me.

Incidentally if you want to see how the next 18 months are going to pan out with regards to government proclamations and press releases have a look at this article in The Mail today rlhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529714/Duncan-Smith-No-hiding-place-opt-life-benefits.htmlrl in which that newspaper seemingly gets an exclusive deal from the DWP to publish the thoughts of IDS.

In his statement he skillfully diverts attention away from his department by first of all blaming the previous government for everything - standard - and then mentioning that there are "millions" who are stuck in a lifestyle of claiming benefits rather than working because the previous government made it more financially viable to claim benefits rather than work.

A couple of points to counter this - the numbers of claimants who draw down tens of thousands in unworked benefits are small and the bulk of those benefits usually comprise housing benefit and the housing benefit is so large because successive governments have shied away from providing council housing and relied instead on private landlords to take up the slack, at a price - the fact is that most benefits payments, and the largest of benefits payments (working tax credits) are made to those who are currently in work and its THESE people who make up the bulk of his "millions".

He then goes on to describe how his personal Universal Credit will change everything being at the same time very careful not to mention how much of a balls up its introduction has been and being careful not to mention that the trial areas are still relying on manual spreadsheets to track payments rather than the expensive software that is not yet working - the delay of several year now being described as "carefully managed" whilst at the same time also pinning blame on the previous government.

And when we add up the total number of out of work that he claims have been positively affected by his changes to the benefits system we see that since April the number is 25,000 - so there are "millions" trapped out of work and in benefits and so far we've helped 25,000 of them.

Round of applause for the DWP please.



More of this to come, if he was a salesman sitting in your office you'd be looking for an excuse to show him the door by now.

I'm curious how he's going to make people on unemployment work 35hrs a week applying for jobs. There's only so many jobs out there or is he expecting people to just apply for jobs which they are not suitable just to prove they are making an effort? 35 hours is basically a working week.

We should adopt the Norwegian model, depending on how much you payed in you the national insurance scheme you get either a year or 2 years "on the dole".

And when they do exactly that, they then get their benefits sanctioned for not attending the JCP or taking time off from the Work Fare Programme. I was only reading the other day that a man had a job interview at the same time as his JCP appointment, he asked them if he could re-arrange, which they agreed, only to have his benefit sanctioned for a month for not turning up for his JCP appointment! IDS is a disgrace, he calls himself a Christian, this man wouldn't know how to behave like a Christian (or just a normal, decent, caring bloke) if it hit him in the face with a wet haddock.

And then what?