Conservative Conference 2011: Duncan Smith vows to lift 'couples penalty'

In his speech to the Conservative Party Conference, Iain Duncan Smith said his welfare reforms would reduce the so-called "couples penalty", particularly for families on the lowest incomes.

"We have to create a level playing field for the decisions people make about family," he said. "This means reversing the biases against stability that we’ve seen in recent years, including the damaging financial discouragement to couple formation, despite the evidence of its stable outcomes for children."

Duncan Smith reiterated government plans to recognise marriage in the tax system, adding that Prime Minister David Cameron is committed to delivering on this promise before the end of this parliament.

Referring to the underlying causes of the disturbances and looting seen across England this summer, Smith argued that "there is a steady rise of an underclass in Britain".

"The last government left us with a welfare system that treated symptoms not causes," he said. "To each person it said: ‘You’re financially better off out of work, better off playing the system and most of all if you are bringing up children then you are better off apart.’ Is it any wonder we face such entrenched levels of family breakdown, inactivity and a sense of entitlement?"

He added that the riots "were a wake-up call" on the severity of the problems associated with gangs, arguing that early intervention is vital to young people at risk of becoming involved in offending behaviour.

"Many young gang members drift in from dysfunctional family backgrounds, in search of a place to belong, a perverse kind of family, others through fear of retribution," he explained.

"Fighting this through our police forces is crucial, but this isn’t a job for officers alone; we must end the false belief that we can arrest our way out of this crisis. No, what we need is a way out for those who will take it and the toughest enforcement against those who refuse. Also through early intervention, we have to prevent them joining in the first place."