THE GOVERNMENT's new rules about how jobless people should dress to claim benefit are a nonsense.

One person's "scruffy" is another person's "trendy". It should not be left to Job Centre staff to assess whether claimants are tidy and presentable enough to get a job.

It is totally unacceptable that people may be asked to remove ear and nose rings or have their hair cut before they get the cash to which they are entitled.

The Labour Chief Whip and former Social Security spokesman Donald Duear has described the move as ".. a dangerous interference and dictatorship."

It is. And it is also an arrogant and unacceptable attack on people's civil liberties.

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