... is the headline in today's Observer newspaper, above an article well worth reading:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/11/george-osborne-slash-sickness-benefits
It seems that 'somebody' has leaked a letter sent by the Chancellor to the PM, to the Deputy PM and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Ian Duncan-Smith, revealing preliminary details of a plan to greatly reduce the amount of public money given to those currently deemed disabled or too ill to work. A total of £2.5 billion by 2014-2015.
Neither the Treasury or Work and Pensions want to take the blame for the leak—although the article suggests that some in Work and Pensions believe it could well have been the Treasury, in an attempt to 'bounce' them into implementing the plan. If that is true, it proves that political skullduggery never goes away for long!
Fairly explosive news, especially considering that the conference season will open tomorrow with the Trades Union Congress in Manchester—we should expect this leak to take pride of place in the unions' preemptive attacks on the Coalition's Spending Review.
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