Labour Minister Jones Apologizes for Comparing Benefits to Pocket Money

Rachel Reeves ' Treasury deputy has made a grovelling apology after comparing Labour's benefit cuts to reducing a child's pocket money.

Darren Jones admitted last night that he had been 'tactless' when he compared the drive to get millions of people back into work to telling a teen to get a weekend job instead of accepting a handout.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury came under fire over his remarks on live television yesterday.

He offered the 'insulting' and 'patronising' example after an analysis of the measures, carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions, found that 3.2million families will be worse off due to the welfare changes.

Chancellor Ms Reeves hung her deputy out to dry this morning by admitting his remarks had been 'clumsy'.

The move has infuriated Labour backbenchers, potentially triggering the largest rebellion since the party took power.

Appearing on ITV 's Peston last night Mr Jones said: 'I recognise that wasn't good enough and I apologise if I've offended people'

'I'm sorry about it. It was tactless and it wasn't well considered.

'What I was trying to explain in simple terms was what the impact assessment considers and what it doesn't consider.

'The impact assessment considers how much money you lose by coming off of the social security system but it doesn't consider how much money you gain by being back in work.

'I should have used a different set of words to explain it. I recognise that wasn't good enough and I apologise if I've offended people'

Mr Jones, as he attempted to defend Government's welfare cuts, pointed to how the analysis did not consider the impact of other action being taken by Labour.

'My understanding is what the impact assessment doesn't account for is the benefit that you get from our additional money into support for training, skills or work,' he told BBC Politics Live.

'Take, for example, if I said to my kids: 'I'm going to cut your pocket money by £10 per week, but you have to go and get a Saturday job'.

'The impact assessment on that basis would say that my kids were down £10, irrespective of how much money they get from their Saturday job.'

Mr. Jones' remarks were quickly labeled as 'offensive' and 'patronizing' by critics, with Apsana Begum—the independent Member of Parliament for Poplar and Limehouse—declaring them to be 'astonishing.'

When asked whether her deputy was correct in making the comparison, the Chancellor said to BBC Radio 4's Today program, "No, he was awkward with his analogy, and he has apologized for that."

When pressed about comparing benefits to pocket money, she stated: "Certainly, it's not considered as pocket money."

Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling, the Labour Party's spokesman for Work and Pensions who is also registered as blind, called for an apology from Mr Jones.

He stated: "This is extremely offensive and demonstrates that the government fails to comprehend the difficulties encountered by individuals with disabilities."

Darren Jones needs to apologize to the hundreds of thousands who have been driven into poverty due to his government's decision and to the millions more whose lives have become increasingly difficult because of it.

If the government truly wanted to control the welfare budget, they would immediately address the issue of social care instead of postponing it with a review that should have been finished by the end of this year at the earliest.

Mr. Darling brought up the remarks once more today in the Commons while posing an Urgent Question regarding the alterations to PIP.

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