FILE – In this Dec. 4, 2012 file photo, Britain’s Secretary for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith looks to the media as he walks past the Christmas tree in Downing Street ahead of a cabinet meeting in London. Opponents of a raft of welfare changes want Smith to make good on a claim that he could live on the 53 pounds ($80) a week that one benefits recipient says he has left over after paying for housing and heat. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
LONDON (AP) — A British government minister is being asked to put his money where his mouth is.
Opponents of a raft of welfare changes want the country’s work and pensions secretary to make good on a claim that he could live on the 53 pounds ($80) a week that one benefits recipient says he has left over after paying for housing and heat.
By Tuesday, more than 200,000 people had signed a petition urging Iain Duncan Smith to live as many welfare recipients do, on very little.
Duncan Smith isn’t commenting on the petition, which would force him to live on 7.57 pounds ($11.43) a day in London, one of the most expensive cities on Earth.
Britain’s government says the welfare changes are needed to save money and make the system fair.
