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Child Benefit
As a kid in 50s Britain child benefit was a fairly new welfare state concept. Then it was not paid for the first child and when it licked in for the second child it was around 8shillings a week. Successive children also were eligible for child benefit. However it would always seemed odd that the first was ignored as that child can be the most costly. It was quite a few years before that changed and child benefit was paid for the first and successive children. It is a benefit but was never means-tested. It was an automatic, almost a right of the day. The current coalition government has implemented a range of austerity measures that have cut incomes for the poorest and most vulnerable. They have managed to fund free school meals for all kids under a certain age, which means this available for the very wealthy not just the needy. They have made child benefit changes but have shied away from taking it away from rich parents. Instead they have set new guidelines which are a mockery and an insult to the poor. The rates are currently £20.50 for the eldest or only child and £13.55 per additional child. But rather than make it a true means tested benefit the coalition has changed the income limits but set them far too high. The new rules man that you can claim Child Benefit if "Either you or your partner earns between £50,000 and £60,000 per year. If either you or your partner has an income of between £50,000 and £60,000 a year each, you have to pay a proportion of your Child Benefit back in extra Income Tax." So if a couple both earn £49,000 a year each they will still receive full child benefit. That of course shows that austerity measures have been nothing about reducing the deficit or balancing the UK's books but more about reducing the state and any safety nets that have previously helped the poor survive. Conclusion The Nasty Party, also called the self-servatives and Conservatives, of the UK is alive and well. With the help of the Liberal Democrats they are pushing through reforms that will hit the poorest people in the UK. Why would they hit the rich when many are millionaires in their own right? They have worked hard to divide and conquer the people of Britain by trying to blame the poor and socialists for the 2008 global economic downturn. They may feel 'mission accomplished' as they now set to attacking further and deeper but they could be wrong. On Wednesday there is a Commons vote on the infamous Bedroom Tax. The last time there was a vote on the Bedroom Tax the Liberal Democrats supported the Tories. With an election just around the corner will they dare to do the same again? Election King Maker squandered his wave of support in the 2010 election to buddy up to his old school chummie David Cameron. Now he is tarnished as one of the gang. And with a gang member like Iain Duncan Smith who would want to join? More at Mail Online Limiting child benefit to two children is an insidious hint that the “poor shouldn’t breed” Daily Mirror The Guardian
The Mirror asked "Question Time: Did we just witness the end of Russell Brand?" That report generalises that Brand only impresses his fans all aged under 20 but this new fan, aged 62 plus, hopes not.
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