Calls for “pointlessly cruel” benefit sanction regime to be urgently reassessed 

A cross-party committee of MPs has condemned the government’s benefit sanctions regime, calling for it to be “urgently re-assessed”. The Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee said the system is “at times so counter-productive it just seems pointlessly cruel” .

It said people with disabilities should be made exempt, amid fears some are being unfairly punished. The Department for Work and Pensions defended the system, saying it encourage people to actively look for work.