Michael Meacher: to the point as usual

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/10/strategy-growth-not-cuts

The sole argument used by the government for the unalloyed nastiness of its welfare benefits uprating bill (Report, 9 January) was that it was wrong that benefits for the jobless had risen by 20% since the financial crash, while wages for low-paid workers had only risen by 10%. However, what seems to have escaped ministers' notice is that people don't buy things in shops with percentages: they buy them with money. And in money terms, 20% of the £71 a week jobseeker's allowance is £14, while even for the lowest-paid, 10% of the national minimum wage is £23 a week. So even the very lowest paid in work are £9 a week better off than those jobless on benefit.