Government defeat on welfare reform
….Lord Patel’s amendment to protect the automatic right of young disabled people who are unable to work to qualify for ESA has been carried, by 260 votes to 216.
wow!!!
Not sure what clinched it but….
Baroness Meacher questioned the £70m savings figure used by Freud. She said it is £10m. She called her amendment:
“An attempt to protect the dignity of a very very vulnerable, severely disabled group me people
Lord Freud says the ESA youth condition reform would deliver savings £70m by 2016-17. Those savings would be jeopardised by retaining the automatic payment system he suggests, adding:
