Well yesterday’s revelation that the DWP seem to have been altering documents on their website to cover for Chris Grayling and Iain Duncan Smith’s lies seems to hold weight. Someone on the forum urban75 has pointed out that the document was indeed modified yesterday:

“If you download the current modified pdf file from the DWP website and look at Document Properties you see that the pdf file was:

Created: 2012-02-24 15:07:49

Modified: 2012-02-24 15:08:39″

It even appears the Ministry of Truth have been busier than first suspected, with yet more information on compulsory workfare vanishing from the DWP’s website.

This blog reveals that the prospectus for the Work Programme also seems to have gone walkabout. If you go to where the prospectus was originally located you are informed: “The page you are looking for is no longer available on the DWP site.” You can then follow a link to the archive (PDF) which contains the prospectus. Whilst it is not unusual for documents to be archived, there are plenty of other documents about the Work Programme still available on the DWP’s website, yet any mention of the mandatory nature of the scheme appears to have been removed. That includes the table below from the prospectus which clearly shows that Iain Duncan Smith was lying when he claimed in the Mail that “our work programme is entirely voluntary”.

You don’t even need to go internet sleuthing to expose their lies now that broken toy retailers Poundland have said they have ended:

“participation in the government’s mandatory work programme.”

Which contrasts sharply with Chris Grayling’s claim on the Today programme yesterday that “There is no circumstance in which we would mandate any individual to take part in work activity for a big company, that doesn’t happen.”

The Guardian asked Poundland to specify exactly which scheme they meant, which they did saying:

“Poundland have been taking part in two schemes, the work programme and the work experience scheme,”

“Poundland has suspended its participation in the work programme, because of concerns about the compulsory nature of the programme but they are continuing with the work experience, which is voluntary.”

Most claimants could have warned Grayling that you can’t really trust anything you get from a pound shop.

This statement is important because it refers to the Work Programme, not the Mandatory Work Activity scheme, or the much discussed Work Experience scheme for young people. Work Programme can see claimants forced to work for private companies for up to six months without pay, something that DWP ministers have pretended isn’t happening time and time again.

Iain Duncan Smith and his minion Grayling have repeatedly told bare faced lies over the last couple of weeks as the workfare story has continued unabated. That they remain in post tells us everything we need to know about this shameful government. Next time Lansley or Cameron claim they are not privatising the NHS, remember this – they lie through their fucking teeth and there is no reason to ever believe a word this government tells us again.

The blog mentioned above also has an interesting story about Cameron’s recent disastrous visit to a hospital in Newcastle, which was also covered up. The Ministry of Truth has had a busy month.