COMPASSIONATE Conservatism?
Forget it. Yesterday David Cameron seriously suggested restricting benefits for workless families with several children, scrapping housing benefit for under-25s and making the long-term unemployed do full-time community work or lose all payments. And, though the idea was removed from the final draft of his speech, introducing regional variations in the level of benefits "makes sense", according to Number 10.
There is a certain logic in this idea. Given differing regional pay levels, if you believe that the welfare state exists to incentivise people into work, there are concerns about those geographical areas where the gap between in-work and out-of-work incomes is smaller.
Yet similar proposals for public sector pay have just been put to one side, largely because they would make the already alarming UK north-south divide even worse. The same applies to benefits. Lower benefits would feed through to less money going into the regional economies of poorer areas. They would also have a particularly punitive effect in areas like the Scottish Highlands and Islands, where wages may be low but the cost of essentials like fuel and food are higher than London. So why persist with the idea?
The answer is partly political. Against the backdrop of the row about tax avoidance by the super-rich and controversy over House of Lords reform, here is an idea guaranteed to cheer up the right wing of the Tory party. And it appeals to the large numbers from all parties who seem to have swallowed the idea that most people on benefits are feckless scroungers playing the system. Also, massive, radical cuts may be intended to make the current welfare changes seem modest by comparison.
Ultimately, this debate comes down to the function of welfare. If it is about tackling poverty and ill-health and ensuring that, in a comparatively rich country everyone has a decent standard of living, then what Mr Cameron is proposing is outrageous. If it is about using the system to encourage people to work, save and get married, then these ideas are about nudging people in the right direction.
The problem is that many, in fact most, people who rely on benefits are not scroungers. They are people moving in and out of work, those unable to work for a good reason and those who cannot earn enough to live on because the only work available is low-paid and part-time. The West of Scotland has very large numbers in all three categories. So no, Mr Cameron, regionalised benefits do not make sense.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article