On Monday’s Today Programme (Radio 4) David Bennett, a market trader, said that after his housing benefit had been cut, he lives on £53 per week. The next interviewee was Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, who was defending the changes. The interviewer then asked him if he could live on this amount. He replied: “If I had to, I would.”
Pressenza reported yesterday on the draconian cuts being implemented by the present government.
A petition set up by Dom Aversano through Change.org is calling on Iain Duncan Smith to live on this budget for at least one year. This would help realise the conservative party`s current mantra that “We are all in this together”.
This would mean a 97% reduction in his current income, which is £1,581.02 a week or £225 a day after tax [Source: The Telegraph]
Petition letter
To:
Iain Duncan Smith, Department for Work and Pensions
I call on Iain Duncan Smith to prove his claim to be able to live on £7.57 a day, or £53 a week, by doing so for one year.
Signature
At the time of publication by Pressenza the petition has reached 361,244 signatures.
Also as a response to other proposed changes (spare bedroom tax and cap to housing benefit, expected to lead to massive evictions)
UK Uncut is proposing a campaign of civil desobedience on Sat April 13th called “Who wants to evict a millionaire”
