𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

As the crazy clamour grew for the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap – viewed as almost the holy grail by many Labour MPs among other financial Left-wing illiterates – this column reminded you of the words of the Chancellor who implemented the policy.

Speaking in 2015, George Osborne rightly pointed out it would mean “families in benefit face the same financial choice about having children as those supporting themselves solely in work”.

He went on to lay out the bare facts: despite being home to a mere one per cent of the global population, somehow we’d spiralled into providing seven per cent of all welfare spending on the planet.

After last week and that tax grab Budget ushered in by a Chancellor fighting for her job in a government fighting for its political life, the situation is now certain to get worse as she saw fit to lob another £3billion on the welfare bill solely to cover the scrapping of the two-child cap.

While not wishing to blitz you with too many figures after the week we’ve all endured, to help pay for this Rachel Reeves indulged in more sleight of hand than Paul Daniels but ended up with results that looked like the work of Tommy Cooper.

By freezing income tax thresholds until 2031, an additional 780,000 low earners will now find themselves dragged into paying tax, 920,000 more middle earners will move into the higher tax bracket while 4,000 will be shunted into the 45p rate.

At the same time, for those living on benefits – and remember an additional 5,000 sign up every day – and who choose to have large families, the cash will come rolling in, with 560,000 families picking up an extra £5,310 a year.

In simple terms, this means families who strive and save to start a family and then decide perhaps they must limit themselves to just one, or perhaps two children, must watch as thousands living on benefits are rewarded for being idle and having children they perhaps cannot afford.

While you must always allow for those who lose their jobs or get sick or are in need, the welfare state was meant to act as a safety net, not a lifestyle choice.

The harsh truth is we are landed with a Chancellor who is as financially inept as she is politically weak. Her proposals for growth, which were “fully costed” before last year’s general election, have failed lamentably, as have her efforts to “fixthe foundations”.

Growth forecasts have been downgraded for every year until the next decade and the tax burden is set to hit an all-time high of 38.3 per cent of our GDP and inflation, says the Office for Budget Responsibility, will “stay higher for longer”.

Her efforts, and those of her lacklustre leader Sir Keir Starmer, to trim the welfare bill by a small margin were faced down by a rebellion in the Labour ranks who now effectively hold her and the PM hostage.

The waves of criticism levelled last week at Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir were justified. This is an alarm clock budget put together for benefits Britain. And it is beyond irony that it is a Labour government that is striving to reward so handsomely those who can’t be bothered to work.

******

MOST delightful picture of the week has to be courtesy of pupils in Year 2 at the Welland Academy in Peterborough. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was reading with a girl who smartly pointed out they were on pages six and seven and then eased the PM into imitating the TikTok meme of juggling while saying the words “six-seven.”

Banned in many schools, teachers have been battling with this – not least as it has its origins in drill music and violence involving guns and shooting.

Credit though to the PM who, having had a TikTok ticking off from the teacher, sheepishly declared: “I didn’t start it, Miss.”

That humour would serve him well as he tries to bounce back from being the most unpopular PM since polling began.

******

A LOVELORN carrot, a dopey Dad dancing grinch, a fallen giant and a Dawn French ad utterly bereft of any charm or narrative, save for a party only the loneliest would choose to attend.

Yes, this year’s Christmas adverts are a grim crop and even the usually reliable John Lewis has managed to break with tradition and produce a shocker. As a father of two sons, presumably it was aimed directly at me, but rarely have I seen a story so “knowingly undertold!”

All praise then to Waitrose, with a witty, charming and brilliantly acted vignette capturing the spirit and love that should always be part of the Christmas season.

******

AT A meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urged other world leaders to send troops to Ukraine as part of any peace deal with Russia. He also vowed he was ready to put British boots on the ground.

But hang on a second…WHAT boots? The Army is back to its size during the Napoleonic Wars.

THE clunker chairman of the BBC, Samir Shah said he did everything possible to stop Tim Davie from quitting and that he had been “a very good” Director General.

Dear Lord, if he was “very good”, what would a bad one be like?

WHO said the following in 2020 as the nation wrestled with the impact of the Covid pandemic: “Jury trials are a fundamental part of our democratic settlement. Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea.”

That would be David Lammy, while Shadow Justice Secretary.

Last week it emerged he is looking to scrap juries sitting on all cases save for murder, rape and manslaughter.

What a difference a successful election makes.