IAIN Duncan Smith is to visit Easterhouse, the site of his infamous “epiphany”, where he was moved to tears at the poverty he witnessed.
Duncan Smith has been invited by Glasgow East MP Natalie McGarry who believes the visit will show him how little has changed since he has been in the cabinet.
The work and pensions secretary’s deputy confirmed the visit during question time in parliament yesterday.
McGarry said: “Mr Duncan Smith was reportedly “nearly moved to tears” by the poverty he encountered in Easterhouse, but today as work and pensions secretary he has been responsible for damaging welfare changes which have made life harder for countless people in Glasgow and across the country.
“From the bedroom tax to the punitive benefits sanctions regime, the Tories’ policies have caused real pain for too many people, pushing thousands into poverty and forcing many to turn to food banks.
“I hope that when he returns to Glasgow and meets with the ordinary people suffering as a result of his policies, he might have a second epiphany and realise the real damage he is doing now to people’s lives.”
It was an angry work and pensions question time in Westminster. Eilidh Whiteford, the SNP’s Social Justice and Welfare spokesperson, reiterated her party’s call for benefits sanctions to be frozen.
Speaking after the questions, Whiteford said: “This is unacceptable and it is deeply concerning that these sanctions continue to be handed out when the DWP’s own figures have revealed that 285,000 sanctions were overturned when appealed.
“The UK Government has completely abandoned any responsibility for the people who have died shortly after being declared fit for work which just goes to show that this process is not fit for purpose.
“A root and branch review of the DWP’s conditionality and practices must be carried out as a matter of urgency and all sanctions should be frozen so that the DWP can be held to account for these errors which are having a damaging ... effect on people’s lives.”
During questions, Employment Minister Priti Patel said it was “impossible” and “wrong” to draw conclusions between the number of people who had died shortly after their Employment Support Allowance (ESA) had been removed and the sanctions process.
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