THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: People living in benefit-dependent households have been urged by the Prime Minister to “go out and work” rather than complain about the loss of welfare payments.
He spoke as the Government faced serious opposition to the plan to cap the maximum benefit payments that can be received by any household at £26,000. The House of Lords is seeking to block the policy.
The cap has been set at the same level as the average family’s earnings and ministers insist that it is unfair that taxpayers must subsidise those receiving more from the state than typical employees earn.
The Government was defeated in the House of Lords after bishops tabled an amendment to the Welfare Bill proposing that child benefit is excluded from the cap.
The amendment, which was backed by dozens of Liberal Democrat peers, threatens to wreck the entire concept of the cap.
Senior Conservatives have said they are determined to force through the legislation by overturning the Lords amendment, a move which is said to have widespread public backing.
Speaking before the Lords debate, the Prime Minister sought to echo Norman Tebbit, the former Conservative minister, who told unemployed people to “get on your bike” in 1981. » | Robert Winnett, and James Kirkup | Monday, January 23, 2012
My comment:
The welfare state was conceived as a safety net for those in need when times were tough. As such, the idea was fine. Unfortunately, the original concept of welfare has been abandoned. Welfare is now all-embracing, not just for the people who are out of work or disabled, but for all who seek to scrounge off the State. It should never have been allowed to grow into this monster in the first place. The politicians can only blame themselves for this.
Something will have to be done about the monster they have created. Taxpayers cannot be expected to foot the ever-increasing bill for those who prefer to scrounge than pull themselves up by the bootstraps.
Whether now is the right time to tell people to look for work rather than receive benefits is, however, questionable. Where are all these people going to find employment? Doesn't Cameron realize that his own government’s austerity drive is leading to a shortage of work opportunities?
Mr. Cameron seems to be living in an ivory tower, a gilded cage if you will. Is he so cut off from the reality of life that he is blissfully unaware of the plight of the many?
The welfare state needs to be cutback to the bare bones. But to achieve this, there has to be a long-term strategy. Tinkering at the margins will achieve little in the long-run. Some serious thought needs to be given to the starting point of cut-backs. It cannot be right to punish those in real need. The scroungers need to be targetted first. As do all those benefit-tourists coming from abroad to milk the system. They have contributed nothing towards the system, so really should not be entitled to anything. That how it works for a Brit; so why should it be any different for someone from abroad?
It should also be said that cutting back on the welfare state must be a two-pronged strategy: It has to be accompanied by some form of job creation? For without jo bs being offered in the system, Cameron's talk is tantamount to whistling Dixie. – © Mark
This comment also appears here
