"Everyone ultimately believes in some moral absolutes. Once we realise this, the new question becomes: Which set of beliefs and moral absolutes leads us to embrace most fully those from whom we deeply differ?".Tim Keller, The Prodigal Prophet, pg173.

While you're slogging through benefit data to major a political point, remember what real lives are like. The UK has no system for identifying & supporting people who can work part-time but not full-time. It can't be assumed that people on standard jobseekers are fully healthy.

Lots of people saying that this will just pass the costs to the customer. But the cost is already on the customer, via council tax, with no incentive for businesses to reduce the environmental cost of their packaging. This puts the cost in the right place, encouraging change.

RT @Shrink_at_Large: "The review exercise that we’re undertaking is not designed to deliver spending cuts. I mean, we will certainly have t….

RT @CommonsWorkPen: We've published our report on Get Britain Working: Pathways to Work. We welcome the concessions that the Government m….

RT @LurgeeLife: Had a DWP FOI reply for Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) info. ▶️ 168,000 LCWRA/ESA have qualified for SCC since it was int….

RT @leith1076: Well said Liz. I'm quite sick of ministers treating them as lazy fraudsters taking the micky for a financial bonus. Some hav….

RT @ddhitchens: A month on from the Commons vote on assisted suicide, it’s clear that quite a few MPs were confused about the bill or influ….

RT @drandrewb: “In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with n….

I get that charities can provide emotional support. And some of them give practical support. But I want my expert medical advice to come from my doctor. And I expect the govt to ensure the NHS has enough funding for there to *be* expert doctors in my condition(s).

RT @leith1076: Great article from Emily Thornberry: "Now the government tries to divide us into “scroungers and strivers”, or to use the ne….

You can't have anything you want - but a decent government makes sure that everyone has what they need. The best governments also ensure that everyone can get a bit of what they want, because that's what makes life worthwhile.

RT @breeallegretti: Rachael Maskell says she lost the whip for “standing up for my constituents over welfare”. She tells me “there are li….

At this point, I think I'd be feeling quite annoyed if I were one of the MPs to rightly oppose Labour's cuts to social security, but wasn't deemed important or strong enough to have the whip withdrawn from me.

RT @leith1076: Finally an MP that GETS it. We could do with someone like this as Work and Pensions Secretary.

RT @leith1076: Because they weren't big enough presumably?.

RT @leith1076: Good question that. Must have been a good answer as Emily just voted for a far bigger cut than that.

RT @CommonsWorkPen: Wednesday, 9.30am. Just a week after the scaled-back Universal Credit Bill passed the Commons, we're questioning Liz Ke….

"Good work is generally good for health and wellbeing", so we want to make sure that there are enough jobs, all jobs are good jobs, and people who shouldn't work are protected. Oh, wait, no, it's "so we want everyone to get work and get on in work.".

"Monthly GDP figures are notoriously volatile, and what does a debt forecast for 2075 even begin to mean? What would the Treasury forecast from 1975 tell us about this year?".Nevertheless we shall write an article as tho' these things are deeply important.