As he was selling his party’s plan for a jobs guarantee on the airwaves today, Liam Byrne made a passing reference to something that could form another part of Labour’s welfare policy offer. The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary was talking about myths and misconceptions about the benefits system, and said:
‘I think a lot of people are surprised when they find out that jobseeker’s allowance is a little bit above £70 a week, and I’ve had constituents who’ve been frankly shocked when they’ve lost their job, they’ve gone down the jobcentre and they’ve discovered what the true rate of JSA is. So I do think there are misconceptions around, but I do think the British public is right: they believe in welfare reform, they want to see welfare reform happen.’
One of the policies that Byrne hinted at in his interview with Coffee House in December was a contributory principle: it’s something that those advising Labour on its policy review have been examining, too.
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