Peter Taylor-Gooby Radio 4 interview on benefit cuts

BBC Radio 4 ‘You and Yours’ interviewed Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby on benefit cuts on Easter Friday. Drawing on material from his new book (The Double Crisis of the Welfare State and What We Can Do about It) he explained how Britain’s austerity programme differed from those in most European countries by imposing the greater part of welfare state cuts on the poorest groups. Elsewhere public spending cuts are spread more evenly. He suggested that cuts to housing benefits, personal independence payment, disabled living allowance, council tax benefit, tax credits, family credit, job seeker’s allowance and other benefits will combine to create a sharp increase in poverty. This creates a context in which riots and public disorder are increasingly likely.