NZ protest group targets visiting UK minister

British MP Iain Duncan Smith can expect to face angry protestors during a visit to New Zealand next week. Photo / supplied

A senior United Kingdom minister will face angry protestors during a visit to New Zealand next week.

Auckland Action Against Poverty announced today it would picket British welfare minister Iain Duncan Smith during a dinner hosted by Maxim Institute next week.

Spokeswoman Sue Bradford said welfare reforms spearheaded by Mr Duncan Smith had hurt beneficiaries in Britain.

"Iain Duncan Smith has presided over horrendously damaging reforms to the UK welfare system, including the removal of hundreds of thousands of people from invalids' benefits and increased privatisation of services.

"Work and Pensions contractors in the UK have even been issued with guidelines on how to deal with suicide threats from beneficiaries as the impacts of the reforms take hold."

Ms Bradford said the picket was announced to show "solidarity" with British beneficiaries.

It would also protest similar reforms advocated by the Welfare Working Group report submitted to the New Zealand Government in February, she said.

"We want to stand in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who are being adversely affected by welfare reforms there, and because we strongly oppose similar recommendations in the Rebstock report."

Mr Duncan Smith will be presenting Maxim's 2011 annual lecture on 'Renewing compassion: a vision for welfare that frees rather than traps the poor' next Friday.

- HERALD ONLINE