Charity leader says benefit cap will hit poorest 'with catastrophic force' (From Haringey Independent)

Taxpayers Against Poverty leader the Rev Paul Nicolson says benefit cap will hit poorest 'with catastrophic force'

10:57am Thursday 3rd January 2013 in News By Bruce Thain

A political campaigner says the borough's poorest people will be "guinea pigs" for a government welfare experiment.

The Reverend Paul Nicolson, of political group Taxpayers Against Poverty, believes the poorest people in the borough will be hit hardest when plans to cap benefits in Haringey are introduced before much of the rest of the country.

Last month the government announced the national roll-out of a £500-a-week benefit cap would be introduced first in London boroughs of Haringey, Enfield, Bromley and Croydon.

Mr Nicolson, of Campbell Road, Tottenham, said: “The people of Haringey are being treated as guinea pigs for the changes to the benefit system.

“People will simply not be able to afford to live, some will be forced onto the streets and there will be implications for the wider community such as a rise in crime and mental health issues.

“These cuts and changes will hit the poorest in the borough with catastrophic force and it is going to be a very difficult 2013 for many people.

“There seems to be a real lack of understanding from government about what will happen and the effect it will have.”

According to figures from the Department of Work and Pensions, up to 1,300 households in Haringey will be affected by the changes that would see benefits limited to £26,000 a year.