It seems the Tories have chosen to pick on a group in society that cannot answer back - children. The message is simple, Hunt suggests that the government will withdraw state support, or cap it in line with the median household income. Whilst they will hide behind ‘responsibility’, they are implying that benefit claimants should have less right to have a family. Parents do have responsibility when it comes to bringing up their children. Jeremy Hunt stated on Newsnight last week, “The number of children that you have is a choice and what we’re saying is that if people are living on benefits then they make choices but they also have to have responsibility for those choices. It’s not going to be the role of the state to finance those choices.”
He is right in suggesting that parents have a responsibility, one that encompasses creating a stable home for their family – something that will be severely hampered if benefits are capped in this manner. It is not just remarkably nasty, it also contradicts a stated central aim of this government. It has been stated on numerous occasions that the government wish to end what they see as the benefit system as a ‘culture’ or a ‘lifestyle choice’.
It seems reasonable to suggest that in order to transport long term benefit claimants out of the system and into work, they need many support mechanisms, including a financial aspect. This is particularly relevant on the impact of the child, as we are told that parents who are on long term benefits are increasingly likely to pass on that lifestyle choice to their children. Decreasing benefits in the manner that Jeremy Hunt suggested will only serve to entrench that probability. It is amazing that the government either have not seen the positive correlation, or choose to ignore it. It is further proof of the ideological values currently at the heart of government.
What next week? It would not shock me if the Tories suggested that part of your first trip to the job centre entailed a sterilization procedure…
I think that the tories have picked on the
poor but why can’t the tories see past
their noses this underpinning of people
on benfits those people who are critical
of people should experience benefits
before they jump to conclusions , you have to experience benfits before you
can understand what a persons going
through?
You’re spot on Rob. There can be no doubt of the ideologically tainted nature of their decision making. Thatcher once said “there is no such thing as society” – you can apply that formula to the spending review, in that it shows little compassion for those in the lower socio economic groups. It makes me laugh that Clegg et al think the exact opposite, and even defy sound statistical analysis from the IFS.
Osborne and the Tories just see numbers, be it the monetary value of benefits or job losses…they have shown a real lack of social awareness, to what this will do for the underpining of a good society. But then again…”there is no such thing as society”…is there?