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IDS criticises bishops over welfare reform Ashdown to vote against coalition benefits cap
(about 1 hour later)
  
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has accused bishops who oppose plans for welfare changes of failing to show concern for ordinary people. Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown has said he will vote against coalition plans for a cap on the total benefits paid to a single household.
He said they should think of those who pay taxes while some unemployed people live in large houses at public expense. The Lib Dem peer said he could not back the plan for a £26,000 annual limit in a vote on Monday without measures to cushion the impact on those affected.
Bishops are expected to oppose the plans in the House of Lords on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said a cap was justified but he would look at "transitional arrangements".
The Rt Rev John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, told the BBC that child benefit should be exempted from a proposed cap on benefits. Critics warn capping benefits could force some people out of their homes.
In an interview with the href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/" >Sunday Times, Mr Duncan Smith admitted that his plans for a £26,000 household benefit cap could face defeat in the Lords on Monday. But Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has accused those opposed to aspects of the cap, including leading bishops, of failing to show concern for ordinary people - urging them to think of those who pay taxes while some unemployed people live in large houses at public expense.
'Not a kindness' 'Unacceptable'
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg gave his backing to Mr Duncan Smith's policy during an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr on Sunday morning. In an interview with the href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/" >Sunday Times, Mr Duncan Smith admitted his plans for a cap on working-age benefits of £500 a week or £26,000 a year - equivalent to the average wage earned by working households - could face defeat in the Lords on Monday.
"The basic principle that that cap should be £500 [per week] so that you can't on benefits earn more than if you went out and worked, I think that's got to be a simple principle that most people would subscribe to," he said. Lord Ashdown has become the most senior figure to say he is opposed to the plan as currently drafted, telling Sky News that the proposals as they stood were "completely unacceptable".
He said the "transitional arrangements" needed to be looked at, but he "completely backed" Mr Duncan Smith on the central principle. "I have voted with the government on everything until now," he said.
Mr Duncan Smith earlier said the bishops were not doing poorer people any favours. "But this legislation, in is present form, I cannot accept."
He suggested senior Lib Dems were pushing "very hard" for measures to help those most dependent on benefits to cope with the change and prevent them falling into hardship almost overnight.
He indicated that if those were in place, he could back the policy.
'Simple principle'
Earlier, Mr Clegg told the BBC he was willing to look at how the changes were implemented but he "completely backed" Mr Duncan Smith on the principle of the cap.
"Of course we need to look at transitional arrangements and Iain Duncan Smith has made it quite clear that we need to do that," he told the Andrew Marr Show.
Areas that could be looked at, he added, included "the place of children who were born, if you like, innocently into another set of rules".
But he added: "The basic principle that that cap should be £500 [per week] so that you can't on benefits earn more than if you went out and worked, I think that's got to be a simple principle that most people would subscribe to."
Mr Duncan Smith earlier said bishops criticising the plans were not doing poorer people any favours.
He said: "The question I'd ask these bishops is, over all these years, why have they sat back and watched people being placed in houses they cannot afford? It's not a kindness.He said: "The question I'd ask these bishops is, over all these years, why have they sat back and watched people being placed in houses they cannot afford? It's not a kindness.
"I would like to see their concerns about ordinary people, who are working hard, paying their tax and commuting long hours, who don't have as much money as they would otherwise because they're paying tax for all of this. Where is the bishops' concern for them?""I would like to see their concerns about ordinary people, who are working hard, paying their tax and commuting long hours, who don't have as much money as they would otherwise because they're paying tax for all of this. Where is the bishops' concern for them?"
The minister added: "I would like to see a more balanced response.
"It's all very well for the bishops to express a political opinion, but I would love them to ask about the poor people on low incomes who are working hard, whose families share rooms, who are doing the right thing."
Inflicted defeatsInflicted defeats
Mr Duncan Smith acknowledged that the result of the Lords' vote could depend on independent crossbenchers, including the bishops.Mr Duncan Smith acknowledged that the result of the Lords' vote could depend on independent crossbenchers, including the bishops.
"My sense is that unless I can persuade them that they're in the wrong place on this one, which they are, then they might be tempted to vote against it. It's down to the crossbenchers," he said."My sense is that unless I can persuade them that they're in the wrong place on this one, which they are, then they might be tempted to vote against it. It's down to the crossbenchers," he said.
Earlier this week Mr Duncan Smith told the BBC that the planned benefits cap was not "about punishing people" but was aimed at making lives better by reducing dependency.Earlier this week Mr Duncan Smith told the BBC that the planned benefits cap was not "about punishing people" but was aimed at making lives better by reducing dependency.
Bishop Packer told Radio 4's Sunday programme: "Certainly there is a real concern about the sheer amount of money from the welfare system which is going through and simply being paid out in rent. The Rt Rev John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, told the BBC that child benefit should be exempted from a proposed cap on benefits.
"But that's not what tomorrow's debate is about; tomorrow's debate is about children.
"What we're talking about tomorrow is children in families where the welfare benefits have been cut to a point where they are less than Parliament actually has said they should be, because that's what a cap does."What we're talking about tomorrow is children in families where the welfare benefits have been cut to a point where they are less than Parliament actually has said they should be, because that's what a cap does.
"I doubt if we shall be voting against it [the bill] in its final form."I doubt if we shall be voting against it [the bill] in its final form.
"What we will be doing, I hope, tomorrow is voting for an amendment to exclude child benefit from the cap so that people who are on benefit receive child benefit just like everybody else in the country.""What we will be doing, I hope, tomorrow is voting for an amendment to exclude child benefit from the cap so that people who are on benefit receive child benefit just like everybody else in the country."
Peers having already inflicted a series of defeats on the government's flagship Welfare Reform Bill, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales.Peers having already inflicted a series of defeats on the government's flagship Welfare Reform Bill, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales.
However, Mr Duncan Smith said ministers were "determined" to get his reforms through Parliament. However, ministers have said they were "determined" to get their reforms - which also include changes to Employment and Support Allowance and changes to Disability Living Allowance - through Parliament
The bill introduces a single Universal Credit to replace six work-based benefits.
But other measures, including reducing entitlements to Employment and Support Allowance and changes to Disability Living Allowance, have run into trouble in the Lords.
In November, 18 Church of England bishops signed an open letter criticising the government's proposed welfare changes.
Their intervention received the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York.