THE figures are startling. Around 3.22 million families will lose out on £1,300 because of Tory changes to tax credit. Only the likes of David Cameron could be “delighted”.
When the Government first announced cuts of £12 billion, the reaction of most Tory voters would likely have been a positive one.
Many of those who backed Cameron at the polls in May probably thought it would be about attacking the feckless and the workshy, the benefit fraudsters and people who sit about all day watching their big TVs while the rest of us are at work.
These are cuts based on pandering to those cliches and stereotypes.
They have no basis in reality.
We will see it further in December, just days before Christmas, when millions of families find out how much they will lose under this Government. Many of the people losing the most will be those who voted for the Tories in May.
Neither Cameron or Osborne know the effect of their cuts on real families and in real life.
That distance from reality is not because Cameron is worth £3.8 million (and due to inherit another £25 million) and George Osborne is worth £4.3 million. Though that is worth noting.
It is because they are so committed to the cuts they are refusing to listen to other rational voices. Even friendly voices, like those of Tory backbencher Heidi Allen who on Tuesday in her maiden speech warned that national debt was being fixed by forcing hard working families into further personal debt. “As the proposals stand, too many people will be adversely affected,” she said. “Something must give. For those of us proud enough to call ourselves compassionate Conservatives, it must not be the backs of the working families we purport to serve.”
Cameron is a prime minister concerned about his legacy. Unless he acts now he will be remembered as the prime minister who made this country’s poorest, this country’s most marginalised, poorer still.
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