Govt rules out U-turn on benefit cap
By politics.co.uk staff
Rumours that the government was preparing to U-turn on plans to cap benefit payments were rebutted by Downing Street today.
Observers had expected a significant watering down of the plans after Lord Freud revealed a series of exemptions yesterday.
George Osborne is understood to be extremely protective of the policy, which polls show resonates strongly with voters, but senior Lib Dems in government are thought to be deeply uncomfortable with some of its implications.
By capping each family's benefits at £26,000 thousands of people in high-rent areas such as central London could be driven from their homes.
No 10's spokesman denied there would be a U-turn however, saying the policy was unchanged – an argument repeated by work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith.
Speaking to the BBC Politics Show yesterday, Lord Freud said: "We have got quite a lot of protections in this cap. Firstly of course, if you are in work, you are not affected.
"Secondly if you're a disabled person or there's a disabled person in the household, you're not affected.
"If you're a war widow or a widower, you're not affected," he added.
"We're also looking currently at exceptional circumstances which some people may find themselves in and we're going to be putting out arrangements for that later in the year."
Of all Conservative policies the benefits cap is one of the most popular, a fact that has not escaped Labour's notice. Ed Miliband's attempt to kick-start his increasingly beleaguered leadership over the weekend included an attack on those who are "ripping off our society".
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