“I’m not going to give you anything other than the official line. I’m not mental.” Graham Mowat from the DWP Universal Credit directorate.
A senior member of the DWP team currently bungling welfare reform suggested he would be ‘mental’ to say anything other than the official line when questioned whether Universal Credit would really be rolled out in October this year according the public sector website 24dash,
Mowat made the shocking statement whilst speaking at the National Housing Federation Finance Conference. People with mental health conditions are likely to be some of those worst affected by the new social security regime as the use of ever more punishing benefit sanctions are inflicted on those judged not trying hard enough to find work. Mowat’s choice of language reveals the flippant attitude at the DWP towards those whose lives are set to be plunged into chaos by the new system.
Mowat also reportedly gave an explanation for the apparent disappearance of Lord Fraud’s budgeting support for so-called vulnerable claimants – first reported on here over a month ago.
It seems that the Treasury has finally cut off the money supply – which is particularly revealing in the wake of accusations that work has stopped on building the complex IT system that underlies Universal Credit.
One thing seems certain, which is that the very visible chaos at the DWP is nothing compared to what’s going on behind the scenes as Iain Duncan Smith’s endless brutal and bodged schemes unravel.
The Void
