Rachel Reeves Poundland Labour's IDS

Anyone who thinks that Labour will not share in the Tories/Lib Dem Austerity agenda should this again

Rachel Reeves Shadow work and pensions has said we s hould stop the dole after two years to force jobless to take work, says Labour's


Reeves who seems to share the ideologue agend a of Ian Duncan Smith has called for time limit on benefit claims Labour would force unemployed to take paid work under jobs guarantee would apply to under-25s after one year and older jobless after two years

In a letter sent to PM David Cameron, , Miss Reeves calls on the government to back the idea.

She writes

2Abandoning people to a lifetime on benefits is not only bad for individuals and their families, but bad for the economy, and bad for the taxpayer who foots the bill.'With youth unemployment up over the past quarter, the need to tackle this issue and get people off benefits and into work is even more urgent.,,,: 'It's time to put an end to your government's rules which allow jobseekers to spend a lifetime on benefits without being offered a day's paid work.'She says the figures show that the number of over-25s on benefits for more than two years has risen by 224 per cent since 2010. 'By a one-off repeat of the tax on banker's bonuses and restricting pension tax relief on incomes over £150,000, the Government could fully fund a Compulsory Jobs Guarantee to ensure that anyone 25 and over receiving JSA for two years and over, and anyone under 25 who has been receiving JSA for over a year, would be offered a paid job that they will have to take or face losing benefits.'This is a tough but fair contract, because as a country we simply cannot afford to continue wasting the potential of so many, leaving them stuck on benefits for years on end.'

When politicians use the term tough but fair we now its going to be plenty of the former but little of the latter.

At first this might look like a reasonable  idea . But it comes from a politician who has no ides what it like to be long term unemployed particularly  those over 40.

And for those in work on short contracts  which is fast becoming the norm for those in retail . The chance that they can find a place with the living wage  is diminished.

After all why should the likes of Poundland pay a decent wage when it can get an unemployed person working for them for six months at virtualy no cost to them.

Its time Labour instead of responding to Tories taunts of being the Welfare Party claim the title and stop giving the impression  that all those on long term unemployment are shirkers and in many cases the fault lies with Employers who bin CV from those who have been unemployed for over a year or who by simple maths discriminate against older workers.