Churches call government welfare sanctions 'inhumane and un-Christian'

A group of churches has called for an urgent overhaul of the government’s benefits sanctions regime, describing it as punitive, inhumane and un-Christian.

The churches say the sanctions regime deliberately causes harm to claimants, and suggest that it is aimed more at cutting welfare payments rather than helping people back into work...


The report cites a series of case studies showing sanctions were imposed on vulnerable claimants for trivial breaches of the rules, such as missing appointments. The effects on claimants have included stress, depression, hunger and in some cases suicide. It says the regime – which it describes as “one of the most severe in the developed world” often forces sanctioned claimants to become reliant on food banks to survive....



Although a Department for Work and Pensions hardship fund exists to help the most vulnerable the report says this is difficult to access. A separate investigation by Channel4’s Dispatches, to be transmitted on Monday night, highlights claims from jobcentre officials who say that they were put under pressure by managers to sanction claimants...



http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/02/churches-call-government-welfare-sanctions-inhumane-and-un-christian


(Glad at least that people are speaking up about these savage policies. Now who will rid Iain Duncan-Smith of these turbulent priests?!)