The Back to Work Bonus is the latest of a series of schemes thought up to harass the unemployed.
Since 1989, when the Tories tightened up the 'actively seeking work' rules, they have introduced:
• Compulsory Jobplan workshops after one year unemployed.
• Compulsory Restart after two years unemployed.
• A range of pilot workfare schemes • 'Training for Work', designed to compel jobless youth into miserable and fraudulent "training' schemes on pain of losing benefits. those hit hardest by the Jobseekers Allowance.
Civil service unions, whose members have been called upon to act as Lilley's stormtroopers, and who themselves now face the loss of another 3,000 jobs from Job Centres and dole offices, must take the lead in organising resistance, backed by other unions and the wider labour movement.
A fightback could reach out to organise and mobilise support from the unemployed.
So far the Tories have felt able to attack the unemployed with impunity. It's time to turn the tide.