Labour’s welfare cap is a largely symbolic gimmick – but it works as a communication device
It would be easy to be dismissive of Labour’s proposed welfare cap on policy grounds. It would be…
Declan Gaffney
1.8 million reasons for celebrating Labour’s child poverty ambition
New research by a number of distinguished experts published today by the Child Poverty Action Group explores how…
The square root of nothing
Apart from one piece for Left Foot Forward last year I’ve generally refrained from writing about the coalition’s proposal…
Housing benefit cuts and the impact on working families
By Declan Gaffney New figures in an answer to a Parliamentary Question by Karen Buck reveal a hitherto…
Households and worklessness since 1997: what the figures are really saying
By Declan Gaffney Confirmation bias is the tendency to find what you are looking for in the evidence…
A ballooning welfare bill? It’s not that simple
By Declan Gaffney The chancellor and the chief secretary to the treasury have both adopted a simplistic narrative…
Who is paying for the child tax credit increase?
By Declan Gaffney During the election campaign, Labour attacked Conservative proposals to reduce tax credit entitlement for better…
Child poverty: Labour needs to stand up for its objectives as well as its record
By Declan Gaffney As the public is softened up for expenditure cuts, we can expect the ConDem criticism…
Immigration and the leadership debate: Time for a reality check
By Declan Gaffney An open discussion of migration is one thing. Allowing it to dominate the most important…
What really happened in London’s mayoral election in 2008?
By Declan Gaffney In a piece for LabourList on Tuesday, Paul Richards offered some reasons for Ken Livingstone’s…
