Audio: Chris Grayling defends workfare

Here’s Chris Grayling talking on Radio 4 about the government’s work experience programs. Notably, it includes a claim at around 3’30” that his email was “hacked” and that the internet campaign against the scheme is being “organised” by the Socialist Workers Party. (A claim worth investigating).

The clarification under the recording notes that “He has since told us that it was not actually hacked but that his email address was used on a complaint lodged with Tesco.”

Grayling defends government work experience programmes (mp3)

3 thoughts on “Audio: Chris Grayling defends workfare”

  1. I had a training placement: we were told to buy the cheapest bus season ticket we could , and to hand it in with our weekly worksheets if we wanted a refund of travel expenses.
    Fair enough – all audited, fine with me.
    I lived 2 miles from my placement – to save the taxpayer money, I considered the walk was not excessive – I walked in each day. Everyone else got the bus, and used the tickets on sat/sundays too.
    However , it was Winter. One morning it was pouring down sleet – I took the bus in to avoid having to sit all day in wet clothing. Many of the full time paid staff didnt turn up at all and had a day off sick.
    I handed this bus ticket in at the end of the week with my worksheet and refund was refused, because I ‘should have asked for a weekly season ticket’. When I pointed out that would have cost the taxpayer 4 x as much as I was asking for in a refund, I was threatened with a sanction !
    Thats how fair being coerced into going on these schemes is….and the training providers were a ‘charity’. Ho Ho – they were a front – they provided the CV writing advice on Fridays, but Mon – Thurs we were on work experience at a private, profit making company who were making their own staff redundant!

  2. someone removed all of the ‘hall of shame ‘ section from ian duncan smiths wikipedia entry – it was a section on the talk page about known suicides related to benefit cuts , and had a link to the DWP guidelines on handling the anticipated rise in the number of suicides.

  3. I’ve put it back in though 😉 Bloke who edited it has an interest in Spanish politics…..

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