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| Lord Ashdown to vote against coalition benefits cap | Lord Ashdown to vote against coalition benefits cap |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said a limit was justified but he would look at "transitional arrangements". | Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said a limit was justified but he would look at "transitional arrangements". |
| Critics have urged a rethink, including exempting child benefit from the cap. | Critics have urged a rethink, including exempting child benefit from the cap. |
| But Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has urged those opposed to aspects of the cap, including leading bishops, to think of those who pay taxes while some unemployed people live in large houses at public expense. | |
| 'Unacceptable' | 'Unacceptable' |
| In an interview with the 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 after tax - could face defeat in the Lords on Monday. | In an interview with the 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 after tax - could face defeat in the Lords on Monday. |
| 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". | 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". |
| "I have voted with the government on everything until now," he said. | "I have voted with the government on everything until now," he said. |
| "But this legislation, in its present form, I cannot accept." | "But this legislation, in its 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 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. | He indicated that if those were in place, he could back the policy. |
| 'Simple principle' | '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. | 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. | "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". | 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." | 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 has acknowledged that the result of the Lords' vote could depend on independent crossbenchers, including leading bishops who have criticised the plans. | Mr Duncan Smith has acknowledged that the result of the Lords' vote could depend on independent crossbenchers, including leading bishops who have criticised the plans. |
| He told the Sunday Times: "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 told the Sunday Times: "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?" |
| Inflicted defeats | Inflicted defeats |
| 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. |
| But the Rt Rev John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, said child benefit should be exempted from the cap. | But the Rt Rev John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, said child benefit should be exempted from the cap. |
| "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," he told the BBC's Sunday Morning programme. | "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," he told the BBC's Sunday Morning programme. |
| "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." |
| 'Fair' | 'Fair' |
| For Labour, shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said the £26,000 comparison between benefits and incomes was not "entirely accurate" and those on welfare would now be getting less than the equivalent annual wage. | For Labour, shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said the £26,000 comparison between benefits and incomes was not "entirely accurate" and those on welfare would now be getting less than the equivalent annual wage. |
| He urged ministers to consider varying the cap in different parts of the country to reflect differing economic conditions and living costs, and to approach the whole issue in a "fair way". | He urged ministers to consider varying the cap in different parts of the country to reflect differing economic conditions and living costs, and to approach the whole issue in a "fair way". |
| "In principle we are not opposed to a benefit cap," he told the BBC's Sunday Politics. | "In principle we are not opposed to a benefit cap," he told the BBC's Sunday Politics. |
| "What we are opposed to is the way the government has done it. The government needs to think this out better." | "What we are opposed to is the way the government has done it. The government needs to think this out better." |
| Peers have already inflicted a series of defeats on the government's flagship Welfare Reform Bill, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales. | |
| However, ministers have said they are "determined" to get their reforms - which also include changes to Employment and Support Allowance and changes to Disability Living Allowance - through Parliament |