The biggest raid on benefits you’ve never heard of | Juliette Jowitt
by Juliette Jowit from on (#D7K2)
Thought the 12bn welfare cuts were a big deal? Try the 40bn the government saved itself with a sleight of hand over inflation
In next week's budget, attention will be sharply focused on the details of how the new government will cut its welfare budget by 12bn.
But while jobseekers and carers wait to hear specifics of how ministers will take nearly 10% off the annual benefits bill, few realise that the government has already made changes that will reduce payments to those depending on state support by many times more over this parliament.
The story begins with a single paragraph in the emergency budget a few weeks after the 2010 general election
Related: Iain Duncan Smith returns to cabinet to oversee 12bn welfare cuts
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