Tory criticises Cameron over treatment of the young. Why?

Last Updated: October 24, 2015By


When a former Conservative minister criticises the party leader, one has to question the intention behind it.

Is it a stage-managed move to make the Party look attractive in the long run? Or is it a genuine attack on a policy this Tory considers to be wrong?

The latter seems unlikely, when one takes into account that the Tory making the attack is David Willetts, an ineffectual ‘yes’-man for the whole of the Coalition Parliament.

The statement that he is now in charge of the Resolution Foundation means we must also, now, question the validity of its reports – and that is a shame.

The government stands accused by a leading Tory thinker of creating a “country for older generations” in which pensioners benefit from constantly rising incomes while the young, their families and children pay the price of punishing policy decisions, including cuts to their tax credits.

In a hard-hitting intervention on the eve of what is expected to be a tempestuous House of Lords debate over plans to slash the incomes of millions of low-income families, former Conservative minister and prominent party intellectual David Willetts says the current policy mix is manifestly unfair and breaks the supposed “social contract” between generations.

Willetts, a highly respected figure who left parliament at the May election and now heads the independent Resolution Foundation thinktank, says in an article for the Observer that the fruits of prosperity are not being shared across age groups but rather pumped excessively into making the lives of pensioners more comfortable.

Source: Conservatives are failing young people, leading Tory tells David Cameron | Politics | The Guardian

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9 Comments

  1. ian725 October 24, 2015 at 11:47 pm - Reply

    Rank ageism designed to deflect from the hard hitting very unpopular Tax Credits. Once a Tory always a Tory. As you say Mike ‘A YES MAN’ FOR Cameron and an increasingly detested Tory Government.

  2. Dave Rowlands October 25, 2015 at 12:09 am - Reply

    Purley an exercise to get the masses to hate the pensioner’s so any cuts to their income will be approved.

  3. hilary772013 October 25, 2015 at 7:15 am - Reply

    So it is pensioners to blame?? the money is being pumped excessively into making pensioners more comfortable I think NOT. What about the wealthy NOT paying their fair share of taxes via tax loopholes,What about the rich who are rewarded via tax cuts and grow their millions by the day at the workers expense. The Tories make me SICK!! literally.. Tory Claptrap as per usual.

  4. NMac October 25, 2015 at 9:17 am - Reply

    Ah yes, Willetts. Isn’t he the character who was unable to change his own household light bulbs, and employed an electrician at public expense to carry out this simple task. An untrustworthy individual and you are right to question his motives.

  5. Florence October 25, 2015 at 1:31 pm - Reply

    He’s not doing this for the young, he’s floating a new policy to hack away at state support for the pensioner, perhaps even to deflect attention from the Tax Credits debacle.

    The disability rights groups always said that once they had the population comfortable with the savage cuts and demonsation of the unwaged and sick & disabled they would come for the rest. It gives no pleasure to be right, when we all know what happens to the vulnerable when pushed, and punished, and starved.

  6. W Leon October 25, 2015 at 11:58 pm - Reply

    And why is the Tory Party ‘detested’ all of a sudden? Yes, the vast majority of us do detest them, but now even some of their supporters are ‘turning’, Is it because now, a Tory Policy is beginning to affect them? [Tax Credits}. Are all the ‘I’m Alright Jacks’ beginning to slowly wake up now to what the rest of us have been saying?

    • Mike Sivier October 26, 2015 at 12:30 am - Reply

      Probably. Try to be tolerant. We can’t all be enlightened beings who recognise, sympathise with, and try to alleviate the problems of others.
      At least these people are starting to recognise their mistake now.
      There are some dyed-in-the-wool Tories who will never understand why current government policies are wrong.

  7. hugosmum70 October 26, 2015 at 12:32 am - Reply

    i would dearly love to know which pensioners he is on about. my last rise was less than 2quid. meanwhile, gas electric, food, cost of transport etc has gone up so much i can not afford to go out anywhere for pleasure at all any longer. and even shopping is mainly for basics. because of disabilities and diabetes. i am slow moving, takes twice as long to get anywhere. need to eat regular which means cafes at least twice in the few hours we are out. before i start to shop n my nearest big town ive already spent around 20-25quid plus another 10 has to be put to one side to get me and my carer home. i cant use buses.leaves me 20quid to get whatever shopping i need for the next week.not a lot.and its getting worse. so just who ARE these pensioners who get all this money he talks about,.it certainly aint coming my way.or the way of any other pensioner i know.

    • hugosmum70 October 26, 2015 at 12:40 am - Reply

      forgot to say, i do agree the young are being treated abominably. forced to stay in their parents homes (those who can) whose parents are then penalised by having to pay extra council tax, lose housing benefit. so have to make up the shortfall. supposed to get that n the extra ct from their kids.yeah right. like getting blood out of a stone with some from what i am hearing. because they don’t see why they should have to pay board let alone extra rent or ct. but it also means they cant afford to get wed. or live together,. they cant rent if under 25 (not sure if thats actually come in yet but its threatened at least so they dare not chance it. ) penalised at job centres by being told to apply for 16hr or less jobs then being told if its 16hrs they cant claim anymore……. if they do a course. same thing if its 16 hrs or more. hardship payments.or top up apparently don’t exist for these youngsters anymore.(only going by what i am told. here by young people themselves so correct me if anyone knows different.)

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