Welfare Reform Bill

If the noble Lord will permit me, the key issue here, whatever description we put on it—he said that people would see this as a punishment—is that we are dealing with situations where people are known to have the resources and have had plenty of opportunities to fulfil their commitments but wilfully refuse to do so. It is entirely within their hands to deal with that and relieve themselves of the consequence of an order. To describe that as "punishment" seems, with respect, to be a little bizarre. It is entirely within the individual’s own control to relieve him or herself of this disqualification.