Assaults against jobcentre staff have doubled in the wake of Con-Dem benefit cuts - a rise branded "shocking but unsurprising" by public servants' union PCS.
Figures obtained by Labour MP Stephen Timms revealed that Jobcentre Plus staff suffered more than one physical attack a day over the past year.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stats showed staff reported 476 assaults in 2012/13 - up from 228 in 2009/10, before the coalition took power and began wrecking the benefits system.
DYLAN MURPHY reports that far from helping people back into work, the sanctions regime is inflicting unnecessary trauma on working-class families
Labour will find increases in the state pension age are unacceptable, just as cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance, personal independence payments and universal credit are — it needs to change direction immediately, writes PCS general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE
In the current climate, it is vital to bust the myths and put forward the case for a humane and decent social security system that supports people, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE


