Northern TUC response to proposed regionalised benefits

date: 25 June 2012

embargo: for immediate release

In response to the Prime Minister's speech on welfare reform and the potential of social security benefits set on a regional basis, Kevin Rowan, Regional Secretary of the Northern TUC said:

'This is a particularly vicious and vindictive attack on people in the North by an increasingly cruel Conservative-led government. David Cameron and George Osborne have already cut the tax bills of their millionaire mates while attacking the least well-off in our society. Welfare benefits provide a very basic and essential safety net for the most vulnerable in society. Now the prospect of real terms cuts to social security for those in the North East only adds insult to injury. We are not second class citizens and will not be treated as such. This government has dragged the economy back into recession and delivered rising unemployment. The Prime Minister is lashing out at the victims of his failed policies rather than adopting a credible and humane plan for jobs, growth and a future that works.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

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Media contacts:

Kevin Rowan, Northern TUC Regional Secretary T: 0191 227 5565; M: 07766250074; E: krowan@tuc.org.uk