Tories plan benefit system massacre

zIDSmurderer

 

The headline is no joke. Based on the plans revealed by the BBC, if the Conservative Party is re-elected in May, all but the richest of us can look forward to the death of a loved one – perhaps many loved ones.

They’ll have to hang signs over entry points into the UK: “Conservative Britain, 2015-2020: Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here”. At least now we know why David Cameron was determined not to reveal any details of the proposals to cut £12 billion from the benefits budget.

Chequebook euthanasia play a prominent role, and it is clear that the plan is to push as many benefit claimants into destitution as possible while encouraging suicidal thoughts. It has already worked with many people on Employment and Support Allowance; they want to spread their version of Aktion T4 more widely.

Top of the proposals is the replacement of the Industrial Injuries Compensation Scheme with an insurance policy provided by companies. Any not doing so would become members of a default national industrial injuries scheme, similar to the programme for asbestos sufferers. This is the long-anticipated arrival of private health insurance in the British benefit system; we have been expected this ever since Peter Lilley invited the criminal American firm Unum into the then-Department of Social Security in the 1990s. Vox Political predicts that nobody taking out such insurance will ever receive a payout on it; it will be run by Unum.

The DWP predicts that £1 billion will be cut from the benefits budget. The human cost might be significantly higher, especially when you consider the following:

Carer’s Allowance may be restricted to those caring for somebody eligible for Universal Credit. We know already that Universal Credit has been designed to prevent genuinely sick and disabled people from receiving their benefit, and that Universal Credit doesn’t work; this attack on their carers will tip both deep into poverty. Leaked documents suggest about 40 per cent of carers would lose their payments, despite the fact that they genuinely need the money.

The DWP hopes to cut another £1 billion from its bills with this. As it ties in with current chequebook euthanasia programmes, expect many thousands of deaths.

Employment and Support Allowance and Job Seekers Allowance claimants may be denied the privileges that should be afforded to them by virtue of having paid enough National Insurance contributions; your record will not count if you claim these benefits. The plan here is to cut benefits for more than 300,000 families – by around £80 per week. Those on ESA may have carers who will also lose their benefit, therefore we can conclude that this is another planned area of chequebook euthanasia.

Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payments and Attendance Allowance (for over 65s who have personal care needs) would be taxed in order to cut payments by around £1.5 billion a year (based on IFS Green Budget calculation ). Many of those claiming these benefits will also be claiming ESA and will have carers as well, so chequebook euthanasia – again – applies. Who knows how many will live to see the 2020 general election if the Tories gain another term in May?

Council Tax Support may be incorporated into Universal Credit. This blog is prepared to be corrected on this, but wouldn’t that mean the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament (and the Northern Irish Assembly if it runs a relief scheme) would be unable to pay the council tax demanded under the Pickles Poll Tax that came in after Council Tax Benefit was scrapped? This would cut funds to claimants of ESA, JSA, DLA, PIP, AA, carers, and those claiming Housing Benefit and therefore – again – the government is opening itself to accusations of chequebook euthanasia.

Child Benefit may be limited to the first two children in any family. How nice that the Tories may be planning to spring this on families without enough prior warning. This writer would suggest that 18 years’ warning is necessary, to clear the books of people who could reasonably have expected child benefit to be paid as it always has. What about those having triplets? Apparently little would be trimmed from the benefit budget at first, but up to £1 billion might be kept, every year, in the long term.

Regional Benefit Caps – instead of £26,000, the Tories are planning to cut its already-too-low Benefit Cap to £23,000 – and then vary it still further in different parts of the UK. Londoners would receive the top amount due to the higher cost of living; people in rural areas could be forced out of their homes by this.

The leaked documents were prepared by civil servants and commissioned by Conservative Party officials.A spokeswoman for Iain Duncan Smith, the architect of previous state-sponsored pogroms against the poor, sick and disabled, told the BBC: “This is ill informed and inaccurate speculation… Officials spend a lot of time generating proposals – many not commissioned by politicians… It’s wrong and misleading to suggest that any of this is part of our plan.”

In other words, this will definitely happen if the Conservatives are elected in May.

This blog has made much of Labour’s own failure to plan the scrapping of the homicidal Work Capability Assessment if that party is elected into office in May (the other parties’ plans aren’t as important; they won’t be running a government for the next five years). Labour is still wrong to inflict it on people who have illnesses and disabilities through no fault of their own.

However, faced with a choice between the Tories’ certain death and Labour’s possible death, the decision should be obvious.

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59 thoughts on “Tories plan benefit system massacre

  1. thelovelywibblywobblyoldlady

    Honestly, when I read this I thought “if the tories get in again I can see them bringing in legislation to kill anyone with a disability at birth and if you become disabled later in life they’ll kill you then” the frightening thing is (based on the tories performance thus far) they’d probably think it was a good idea.
    The thing is, these leaked documents only show a “saving” of about 5 billion, so where is the remaining 7 billion going to come from.
    If Osborne sorted out the millionaire tax dodgers he’d “save” 5 times that;but they don’t want to upset their tory donor mates do they.

    1. Bill Kruse

      If you study our history, Wibbly One, you’ll see we were forced off the Commons purely for purposes of exploitation. If you watch programmes on farms and farming, you’ll see perfectly healthy animals being shot soon after they’re born as there’s no economic need for them. As far as the Tories are concerned, we ourselves are cattle, beasts of burden, here purely to be exploited. Those of us who are disabled can’t work for our keep so therefore they have no need of us. We should expect nothing more from them than attempts to milk us and an introduction to the abattoir when we’re too ill or old for that. It just amazes me when people are still surprised by the Tory attitude. It’s not exactly new.

      1. A6er

        Cattle? Sheeple? Stock? We’re all the same to them, the Tories!
        Remember the first year they had in power in 2010/11 the Tories did a speech about social claimants and referred to us as “stock” instead of people?
        We, the sick, the poor, the disabled and unemployed are all second and third class citizens compared to the Tory Elite,they are taught that from birth, thru kindergarten,Prep School, Private School and Oxford & Cambridge onto the City, Business and Politics.
        Until we see a real return to a Socialist biased government, we’ll always be nothing more than poverty waged working stock to them.

    2. james michael

      All they have to do is force apple to pay the proper tax in Britain, instead of storing their profits in Ireland, and other places, to avoid tax. They would save billions, but that wont happen. And there are many companies just like apple. There is a definite agenda to what is going on.

      1. Mike Sivier Post author

        And haven’t they just passed a law allowing them to do exactly that? They no longer need to prove an intention to hide profits made in this country – all they have to do is show that the money was made here and taken somewhere else.

  2. seanbarlow

    I agree with the work capability assessment. I DON’T agree with how it has been hijacked by the Tories and the deaths it has led to. There were no deaths attributed to the WCA under Labour. Provided Labour get in and have the sense to repeal the Welfare Reform Act 2012, there’s nothing more Labour can do to undo the damage.

    1. Chris

      By all means kill people by spending tens of billions on private contract firms doing the work capability assessment.

      Heart attacks happen during the 45 minute interviews, as long as the police interviews of criminals.

  3. Gazza

    Tie this in with the UC changes coming into play on 6th April 2016 [affecting upto 10Million+], I have to honestly ask will there be a country in 2 years time, if the Tory Conmen get back in?

  4. Jane Jacques

    Saw this on the news. It sounds horrific. It was denied as you say. Ay least it gives some idea of possible plans and I also note that pensioners maybe affected with the Attendance Allowance. This is the removal of any remnants of a safety net. How can claiments lose the amounts stated from what they get now and still survive? I worry for my daughter who is disabled and unlikely to work, what is her future?

    1. Chris

      Universal Credit hits pensioners by the raised retirement age means both lose right to Pension Credit and get UC instead.

      DLA / PIP to be taxed, lost by move from DLA to PIP hits pensioners.

      JSA / ESA sanctioned, both replaced by Universal Credit, which will deliver permanent sanctions from Hardship Payments becoming a recoverable loan against future benefit or wages by court action meaning direct deductions.

  5. Jim Round

    I don’t agree with any of the plans above, but the current (and past) benefits system is not fit for purpose.
    People earning as much as Cameron don’t need DLA or child benefit nor do they need a state pension, why are we giving these benefits to millionaires?
    I understand the argument (madeby yourself a few times Mike) about means testing, but in this day and age of technology, there should be a system available to the DWP/HMRC to only pay CB/DLA etc..to people who earn under a certain amount.
    It also would certainly not mean a lower tax bill for the rich.
    I have commented before about JSA/UC, a claimant should have REAL help (not A4e, ATOS and the other gangsters) after a set period of time to help them overcome barriers and get them into work and/or training.
    And don’t get me started on Council Tax, has any party a credible alternative?

    1. lallygag26

      Hi, you don’t say what’s ‘not fit for purpose’ about the benefits system, but as you go on to make the argument about scrapping universal benefits, it seems reasonable to infer that you mean it’s too generous/ too widely available/ too expensive for the country.

      Universal benefits are not flawed because they are paid to the wealthy as well as the poor. That is their strength and their purpose. Although they are a minor contribution to a wealthy household they serve a different purpose – they allow no one to say ‘why should I pay, when I get no benefit?’.

      If all are recipients then the wealthy are less likely to look on those who receive it as ‘charity cases’ or to start examining in minute detail how those on benefit live their lives or spend their money (which is actually none of their business). And they are less likely to see themselves as ‘meriting’ what they can pay for themselves whilst ‘paying for’ those who can’t.

      In other words they weave an invisible bond of social cohesion.

      Because that is the horror of means testing. Not only are you required to be destitute before you are allowed to ask for aid, but every corner of your life becomes held up for scrutiny and is judged according to whether you are considered to ‘deserve’ your poverty existence.

      I suggest you read Walter Brierley’s 1930’s book ‘the Means Test Man’ if you want to understand the degradation of a poverty benefits system. In 1945 the Attlee government understood the essence of this system and its dehumanising effects. That’s why benefit levels were set at a level designed to stop people from falling into social exclusion rather than maintain them in misery.

      Not enough people are asking who benefits from the destruction of our benefits system and the fundamental principles of the Welfare State. It is the corporate sector which is currently intertwined around our legislative and civil state in every corner of Whitehall and Westminster. The re-creation of a Victorian class of an impoverished precariat is the most effective means of controlling the working population. What ‘hard working family’ would want to fall into that despair? Better to accept whatever terms you are offered at work than face that.

      It’s easier to get back into a job/education/do something worthwhile with your life if benefits are an accessible right and sufficient to maintain a respectable (although constrained) life whilst you are receiving them.

      As for the affordability issue and the country not leaving debts for the future, etc, it is utter rubbish. The rich are getting richer as we eviscerate the state and immiserate the poor. Read Dickens if you don’t understand how that works. The money and wealth of this country has no value or reason if it doesn’t support the people as a whole. We are a society. Every death through neglect, or starvation. Every homeless person sleeping on the streets in the freezing cold. Every child whose stability is fractured, fracturing their young minds in the process. Each and every one impoverishes us all. It is time we woke up to that, instead of looking at how best to shirk our responsibilities, blame the poor and elevate ‘the economy’ to pride of place above the common good. The economy is us, however did we get to a place where we collectively forgot that?

      We’re not broke. Don’t believe the lies. This is an ideological attack on the people, not an economic necessity.

      1. Jim Round

        I never made any reference to “we can’t afford it” or “the country’s broke”
        I know this is not true.
        What does concern me is that millionaires can claim DLA, state pension etc when it is not needed.
        HMRC and the DWP know how much each individual with an NI number gets through the PAYE and self assessment system, also a number of other things.
        Take for an example a new jobseeker, they are assigned a “work coach” (stop laughing at the back there) who will make them attend what amount to little more than write your own name courses, no attempt to overcome any boundaries (childcare, disabilities, lack of skills etc..)
        There is no structure or action plan.
        Forums are full of jobseekers bad experiences.
        Also note that those rich pensioners etc that mention about they don’t need the winter fuel allowance in the hope that it will mean more favourable treatment for themselves, no it wouldn’t, it would mean that people who really need help with their utility bills would get more.
        There’s also the matter of the biggest benefit scroungers in the country, people who, surprisingly, the bedroom tax does not apply to at all.
        I’ll leave you to guess who that might be.

      2. Bill Kruse

        Well said. I note though you say “The money and wealth of this country has no value or reason if it doesn’t support the people as a whole.” I’d say the reason we have money at all the way we do, inserted as it was by the Dutch banking sector into our then culture (gold coins, tally sticks) centuries ago is specifically so it could be used to create and maintain an artificial elite. Before then we, or more exactly the monarchy, used the system known as English finance. What came after is Dutch finance. This is something of a secret; try Googling for Dutch finance as a phrase and see how you get on. Apart from what I’m working on myself, as a stand-alone phrase it doesn’t appear to even be in there.

      3. Terri

        Look I have a son with Autísm who was in ESA and a company that helps people with ASD that has a degree get into work my son is in employment but had 2 go a month with no money but can’t travel on public transport because of Autism he was offer £4.23 a day but his taxis cost £20 a day no help at all to get of benefits they were landed him this money yet he had 2 ge feed pay rent electric oil & get clothes 4 new job he is struggling socially every day but is great at job a software tester

  6. Damien Willey

    I’ve been quite vocal in my desire to back the Greens, a party that has the policies I believe in. However these tory plans…..this will be genocide. I hate tactical voting, I shun it – its symptomatic of a broken system, a crooked system….but we have no choice. If you choose to vote with your heart and let a tory in….you’re going to have this on your conscience if they end up back in power…..People are going to die if these plans come to fruition, and lets face it, if they’ve commissioned this, its going to be carried out.

    I’m not going to tell you how to vote, but if you’re going to vote with your heart just remind yourself of this article, this news story first. Sorry Greens, I’ve got to vote in the best way to keep the tories out – lives depend on it.

    1. Mike Sivier Post author

      I admire your reasoning.
      There will be a time for the Greens. Let’s get rid of the Tories first.

    2. Heide Mc Alister-Bates

      The Green party themselves have suggested that their members vote Green in the local races, in which they can afford to put forward a candidate, and Labour in those areas where no Green candidate is running – a pretty realistic suggestion, in my opinion. They also understand that Natalie Bennett isn’t going to be our next PM, so the “vote Labour” suggestion applies to that race, as well. While Labour hasn’t exactly shone, even as a Shadow government, their Government would be preferable to the moving-rapidly-toward-totalitarianism that the Coalition has begun.The Tories MUST NOT be given the opportunity to further destroy the social and economic safety nets that have been in place in this country since 1948. Please – vote Green or Labour locally, and Labour nationally!!

  7. Nick

    if i been Jeremy paxman mike on interviewing David Cameron you could be certain he would have failed to answer any of my questions and would have looked like a complete fool as that is what he is and worse

    Jeremy is not a bad interviewer but very light he should have asked Cameron had he seen the deaths of the sick and disabled piling up over the past 5 years on the facebook blog remember the dead? he could then read out some of the names i myself keep the logs and records for the united nation and their records

    there are many all over the world that keep a record of the deaths of the sick and disabled all dead through welfare reform and had i been prime minister all would still be alive so it does matter who the prime minister is and only a fool would think otherwise

    i predicted this would be on the cards years ago i have lived it so it’s not new it’s only new now in the past the DWP were very brutal if you lived alone which i did at the time in 1990 so you can see nothing has really changed it just more opened to today

    in years gone past if you had family around the DWP left you alone but for others like myself on their own they went for the kill

    the next 5 years are going to be a nightmare for myself and indeed for thousands of others and with regret mike most of us aren’t going to make it”ll be goodbye old world

    you take care mike as i may never be around to say thanks for all your hard work that you have undertaken on your blog most days in support of the best of human kindness and understanding and sticking up for the vulnerable

      1. Nick

        it’s the least i can say mike and you take care i or my wife will let you know how things turn out for me in the coming months

  8. paulmac49

    We shouldn’t let these cuts happen don’t vote for these vile people masquerading as human beans.

  9. Thomas

    As a disabled person with Asperger’s Syndrome, another five years of Conservative rule would most likely ruin my life. I refuse to do hard labour just for not having a boss,and the last time I advertised myself to try and get a job, I was very nearly scammed into money laundering. At best I would be left dependent on my family,at worst stealing to survive.

    1. Mike Sivier Post author

      “Nearly scammed into money laundering” – would this be via a job advert on the government-run Universal Jobmatch site, by any chance?

      1. Thomas

        Sorry for the slow reply. In my particular case that dreadful scam ridden site was not to blame,I hate the government but won’t blame them for something they did not in fact do.

    2. Terri

      Thomas I know your struggles there is a company calked Specialisterne please see can they help my son also got job through them he2 has aspegers

  10. karenj26

    If these plans of the Tories come in, I will end it as I would rather die on my own terms than starving to death. I am insulin dependent diabetic, peripheral neuropathy which has me screaming in pain for up to 20 hrs a day and has me hardly able to walk even with a zimmer frame and that me on morphine 24/7 through a patch that gives me 50ug per hour plus a morphine tablet I put under my tongue up to 8 times a day at 200mg each tab and I’m only 43 years old. Also I have mixed anxiety and depressive disorder which basically means I’m clinically depressed and yes I have tried to end my life because of the pain and I feel I have no quality of life. My family look after me but I feel I am a burden.

    1. Mike Sivier Post author

      I sympathise with your situation.
      But I think if you were to do what you say you would, you would just be giving the Tories what they want – another person off the statistics. It seems likely even they wouldn’t be able to justify cutting off your benefits in any case, but if they did – if I were you – I’d do something that draws public attention to what they were doing.

    2. Daniel

      My mum has Peripheral Neuropathy too, and she’s also almost constantly in pain – not morphine dependent (yet), she takes Tramadol and Pregabalin, I had a migraine once and she gave me one of her Tramadol as it was so bad, it knocked me out for hours and she takes 4-6 a day!

      She’s just had a letter from the DWP stating she’s got to transfer from full DLA she currently gets to PIP. This worries me, as although her balance issues means she cannot walk unaided, hanging on to someone’s arm she can walk reasonably well, though slowly. On DLA that qualified her for full mobility allowance, as far as I know it wouldn’t count under PIP (you have to be wheelchair-bound to qualify!) and she really needs that money for things like taxis to the doctor/hospital/physiotherapist when none of us are available.

  11. kittysjones

    The WCA was never the real problem. Although the labour party review of their pilot showed it was flawed in 2010 – highighting the problems because of its lack of sensitivity to ‘fluctuating conditions’ – there were not 1,000s dying under that system. The real problem is the targets used for removing people’s benefit, these were added in 2011

    The WCA was modified in 2011, passed into law by IDS and targets for removing people’s benefit were written into the Atos contract when it was renewed, in line with the welfare ‘reforms’. Dr Steven Bick uncovered the targets – http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/steven-bick-doctor-claims-government-1172457

    1. Mike Sivier Post author

      Not only does the WCA serve no useful purpose, it is also far too easy to pervert it into the weapon against the vulnerable that it has become.
      It cannot remain in any form under a responsible government, in my opinion.

  12. Timro

    Only the Tories and UKIP would be up for this. Nobody, not even the Liberal Democrats, would support these measures in a Queen’s Speech. As long as the Tories never win a majority very little of this will happen. Hopefully though those evil b*****ds will be booted out of office in six weeks time.

  13. Florence

    Will these revelations not put an end to those who have tried to undermine your work Mike, and others in the campaigning community, by claiming that exposure of cheque-book euthanasia was hyperbole?

    While IDS may have been able to keep the death figures from us, despite your heroic battle with the DWP, these leaks go to the heart of the matter: the Tories want to kill people who are vulnerable and teetering on the edge of destitution already. They probably think it of it as a win:win, money for the rich, and the “reduction” of the ill & disabled will take the most expensive work out of the privatised NHS, making it more profitable for them, but in the short term I can only see absolute chaos as the emaciated and dying are wheeled on to A&E. Aktion T4 UK must never be allowed to happen.

    1. Florence

      PS. It puts the disability groups campaign against the “voluntary euthenasia” introduced into perspective too. I wonder how many of the Tory / LibDem MPs who voted as the pack of sheep in the last 5 years for all the “reforms” now realise they are working for the abattoir owners?

    2. fathomie

      No. Tory supporters simply cannot accept anything beyond what the Daily Mail, Central Office and their personal biases tell them. Years of arguing the toss with Tories has convinced me they are not well. People I really like(d) turn into raging demons when, Benefits, ‘wealth creation’, immigrants, trade unions, and anything else the Tories blame for their mistakes gets mentioned. They also never change their views. People who are ‘undecided’ may take on board right or left wing views, and you can challenge left wing peoples views, and get them to take on board new ideas, but I have never, ever known a Tory change their beliefs. They may put them on the shelf for a while to be dusted off when the Tories get back in, but actual, real change? Not a chance.

  14. Jo

    This is abhorrent. What sort of society do we live in to allow this to go on,. We are all part of society and should stand together no matter what instead of this divide and rule. I am fed up with constantly living in fear of having my benefits cut or taken away from me . I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2012 but have had it since 2006 aged just 39. I didn’t ask to have an autoimmune disease and a body I have no control over that prevents me from participating in society at times that most ordinarily people take for granted as I once use to before getting this. Yes I will have periods whereby I could work and periods where I cannot due to the way it can effect me physically. How do I find and secure myself employment as well as finding an employer to employ me knowing this. People don’t consider this and are so quick to jump on the band wagon and believe mainstream media and propaganda. It’s sickening, and the hoops you have to jump through because they have created a system whereby you have to prove how sick you really are to get any support. I don’t get help from family or friends as I’m not in a fortunate position as some. So if my independence is threatened or compromised in anyway what am I suppose to do, you tell me. This can happen to anyone and they have just created a system that is fundamentally flawed and sets people up like me to basically fail. Are you just going to keep turning a blind eye and pretend it doesn’t happen because mainstream media don’t want you to know the reality of the situation. Are we less important than rest of the society. It’s bad enough living with an illness that at times causes acute pain let alone then have to prove to system time and time again that you need help. Do you honestly think I get treated any better by the system because I am disabled. Well I tell you this I don’t and its disgraceful. And if people want to continue to ignore this and let it continue to happen then I say this, you’re no better than them and you should be ashamed of yourselves.

  15. A-brightfuture

    Local councils are just as much to blame, as they just stood by and let some of the policies take hold. How many councils stood up to the government and said ” this is wrong”,…….none of them.
    Yes there are a few vocal top councillors who care, but it falls on deaf ears.

    A lot of what is going will come to pass. The Government have not crossed the line yet, but they are pushing the policies right up to the line of regulation. This government know just how far they can go without getting their wrist slapped.(after all this is the UK), not a corrupt third world country, although I am beginning to wonder.

      1. fathomie

        It is indeed. Worse than ever. Although (god bless ’em) the Eye has uncovered many a scandal over the years, now it makes for depressing reading as a new scandal, usually involving govt these days rather than the traditional suspects, the local authorities, pops up every week. This govt is ruthlessly corrupt, and its depressing that one single person could consider voting for it, never mind the majority. Labour may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but rampant, right under peoples noses corruption is going on and people are ignoring it.

  16. Jo

    It’s corrupt alright, right to the very core throughout every establishment and corporate industry owned by the elite few

  17. Chris Moseley

    I have learnt my lesson!
    You either go out and vote or you sit at home and give the cons another 5 years and then moan about it after
    IDS knows he can do what he likes with people’s lives anybody else would be charged with murder
    So let’s get the cons out and you have to do that by voting and not moan when they get in again

  18. june

    I agree most of this is wrong but i have to say i do think two things are right and should be done. Child Benefit should be restricted to two children, Noone can afford more than 2 kids today so why should the rest of us, pay for those who have more. People forget back in the 50s and 60s you did not get child benefit for one child, I was an only child, my mum didnt get get a penny ever. Also i agree with over 65s benefits being taxed. As a 67 year old pensioner with a small company pension i pay tax,then why shouldnt anyone in receipt of a another benefit.pay it if their income is such. Why should i pay tax and not them if our total income is same. As much as i dont agree with sending people into poverty we really have to have some controls..

    1. Bill Kruse

      Your arguments sound like they’re based on jealousy. You never had this that or the other so why should anyone else? Because then perhaps they won’t grow up bitter and resentful like you, that’d be one good reason.

    2. wildswimmerpete

      @June
      ” Also i agree with over 65s benefits being taxed. As a 67 year old pensioner with a small company pension i pay tax,then why shouldnt anyone in receipt of a another benefit.pay it if their income is such”

      So would I, June, it’s just that my State Pension and Pension Credit don’t exceed my personal allowance. Simples. In my view pensions shouldn’t be taxed at all because they are paid from already taxed income. In other words, double taxation.

    3. Daniel

      There are a number of problems with the idea of restricting CB to just 2 children, both social and financial!

      Social: I’m a twin, my parents had one child then me and my twin brother. 3 kids, when trying for 2. Restricting CB to 2 children would have unfairly punished my parents for a quirk of nature. (I should point out, as a twin there’s an increased chance I’ll also have twins, and twins also runs in my fiancé’s family, so I run the risk of being penalised as well)

      Financial: Having 2 CB limit encourages couples to have no more than 2 children. Sounds ideal you may think, except for one major flaw. Our population is aging, as even with no limit the average UK birth rate is already below 2, so it leaves us even more reliant on immigration to replenish the workforce as the current working-age population retires.
      Now, I personally have no problem with immigration, but right now, immigrants are being exploited by unscrupulous employers, meaning average wages get driven down, further increasing the need for immigrants to supply the taxation needed for society – pensions et al. I suspect that the Tories have deliberately “missed” their target on immigration for this very reason – drive down wages, reduce tax take and use that as their continued excuse for austerity, since they cannot blame Labour through the next term as they did this one!

      It made me chuckle hearing Cameron stating he was going to enforce benefit rules on new immigrants (in the way the EU have always permitted), but trying to pretend he was going against EU law doing so to “stand up for the UK”… and Paxman, who should know better, should have pointed this out!

      1. Mike Sivier Post author

        The Tories will blame Labour for just as long as they think they can get away with it. Other that that, you make some excellent points.

  19. Sandy

    June
    There are not hoards of massive families in the UK. As at Nov 2012 there were 18.2 million families in the UK according to the ONS (could well be more by now.)
    As at March 2015 there are 27,000 families with 6-9 children. That works out at .15%, or just over one tenth of one percent!!!
    Also keep in mind that the vast majority of those 27,000 families have 6-9 children, not because of one family having those children, but because of divorce,etc and 2 families co-joining at a later date; a bit like the Brady Bunch (remember them?)

    As at March 2015, 400 families had 10 or more kids. Out of those 400, 10 had 13 kids.

    400 families with mega families out of 18.2 million families doesn’t exactly support the propaganda we’ve been fed that the UK is being swamped by huge families in order to exploit child benefit, does it? If that were true, there should be thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of these mega families.

    If you’re 67 then you were born in 1948. Your mum was the victim of a deliberate government policy to only pay child allowance for the 2nd and subsequent kids in order to encourage mothers to have more than 1 kid as the UK needed to repopulate after the ravages of the 2ndWW. A mother having 6 or more kids back then would be considered a heroine doing her patriotic duty… how times change!

    Regarding your company pension don’t forget you increased your pension pot via tax relief (a publicly funded subsidy), which also left you with more in your pay packet to spend, or save, as you saw fit.
    Depending on how many years ago you started your company pension this tax relief would’ve been as high as 33% (or 66% if you were a high rate tax payer) gradually falling to 20% (40% if a high rate tax payer.)
    Unless you live to be over a 100, I can guarantee that over the years you have received far more in tax relief than you will ever have to pay in tax on your company pension. You cannot have it both ways. Perhaps one of the controls that should be introduced is scrapping tax relief on private pensions?

    I am the full time carer for my 85 year old mum, who has Dementia, severe arthritis and heart failure. She’s on palliative care and receives high rate Attendance Allowance of £80 pw because she needs 24/7 care at home.
    Every penny (and then some) gets spent on her extra needs. Why on earth would you want her AA to be taxed by £16? What would I cut back on? Her incontinence pants? Her special dietary foods, which cost a bomb. Wheelchair hire (the free NHS ones are awful) for the occasional day out?

    I sincerely hope you never end up in my mum’s position.

    Far better than attacking pensioners – the next in line for demonisation to excuse reducing their incomes if the condems get back in power – howsabout making tax avoiding corporations, and greedy landlords stop filling their boots at our expense.

  20. Chris moseley

    I was taken ill and admitted to a nhs hospital for treatment
    that was seven years ago and I have not worked since after there terrible care and treatment
    I have always worked and now sit at home waiting for ids brown letter informing me I will need to prove I am ill
    this is something I cannot live with and the stress that it causes me at no fault of my own
    I do not intend taking 22 pills a day and sitting in hospital all day for infusions just to come home and wait for the brown envelope
    Sp perhaps IDS would like to add me to the list of people taking there own life!

    1. Mike Sivier Post author

      HE would love it! That’s one very good reason NOT to do so, right there.

  21. Nick

    IDS makes for a chilling read and my view is that he will cut all benefits for those that can leave the house

    to him this will make sense as it will prove you are sick and disabled as you cant leave the house and are under constant care already

    As for everyone else they will have to fight hard to stay alive and it may be that that group will have to leave the country and live elsewhere in the world where costs are cheaper

    if it comes to that those forced to leave will need the help from everyone else who is effected as you will need to forge a large group so that those who are slightly fitter then the others will need their help in making sure their lives are supported in the best way possible

    i did talk about this to mp 5 years ago that this is the path we could be heading down and if it is the government needs to make sure another country will take us in
    phew this is never going to be easy to accomplish but if i have to go i have to go and at the end of the day IDS wont be changing his mind

    the only move the public can take is to not vote Tory at the next election as to do so will no doubt kill off many sick and disabled as we have seen over the past 5 years

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