Plaid Cymru’s Work and Pensions spokesperson Hywel Williams MP has today warned that the UK Government’s proposals for benefits reform do not reflect the realities of the unemployment crisis facing Wales, and has said that changes to the system must not demonise those struggling to find work.
Commenting on the publication of the White Paper on welfare reform, Mr Williams said:
“The best way of getting people into work is actually having jobs for them to go to.
“This week in Wales a phenomenal total of 2,500 people applied for 350 jobs at a new Tescos in Gwent.
“People want to work and I see this problem time and time again in my constituency surgeries.
“The ConDem assumption appears to be that everybody on benefits is somehow cheating the system or work-shy.
“In many parts of Wales there are very large numbers of people looking for work but few jobs up for grabs.
“The fact is that the government is about to make this worse by throwing thousands more Welsh public sector workers out of their jobs.
“Iain Duncan Smith has already shown his ignorance through callous and bizarre cries that people in Merthyr Tydfil should ‘get on the bus’ to Cardiff to find work without realising that for every job vacancy in the city there are nine unemployed people.
“Of course we need a simpler system of benefits – but this must be carefully considered and delivered appropriately. Imposing a ‘back to work’ regime simply is not going to work if the jobs aren’t there.
“We need to fully engage with these planned reforms to ensure that the worse off in society are not let down or left behind by a typical Tory attitude to those who cannot help themselves.”
