The House of Lords and Tax Credits

[smokingboot]

Well it is Halloween; good time for the cobwebs to fall off as they rise... Beyond the grave they may be, vampires they aren't. The cuts to Tax Credits proposed by Gideon and Hameron have been resolutely discarded by our resident undead. Won't stop the cuts, will delay them.

Pre-election, the Tories promised not to cut Child Tax Credits/Benefits. And it was all glossed over and a little vague, with Child Tax Credits/Benefits and Tax Credits being jumbled up and no real attempt to make it absolutely clear; because in the end, if you need Tax Credits to live, you are in real trouble if they are cut, and so are any kids you have. So what good is it to cut Tax Credits and pretend to be protecting families by saving* Child Tax Credits? Who would bother obfuscating in such a way? Someone who wants to cut help to the poor without being seen as specifically attacking the welfare of children. Here is an excellent take on this issue:http://www.theguardian.com/money/video/2015/oct/16/woman-breaks-down-on-bbc-question-time-over-tax-credits-video

She utterly shamed them. And that creaking old anachronism the House of Lords has rejected the proposal. Naturally, the PM is furious that the lords have actually done their job without fear or favour... so they may try to flood the HoL with tory mark-ups. And of course, they never quite like the BBC because it isn't owned by billionaire tory donors, so they'll try to bring it down too. Because being in power means getting what you want, always. What's the point of drunkenly sexing a pig at Oxford if you can't do that?

* I think they have been frozen and capped at the first two children.

Comments

[larians.livejournal.com]

re The Guardian piece the woman in question will not be effected by the proposed changes.

That doesn't change the fact that the implementation of these changes is badly thought out and needs to be done over time.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Can I ask you where you got your info from?

All I can find is an article in the Daily Mail claiming that according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies she would probably not be affected by the credit cuts because she doesn't make a profit - but it's the Mail so I treat it with scepticism. What is really odd about the article is that it then claims that she may be investigated because she should be working towards making a profit. So she is probably not going to be driven to the despair she describes but somehow she should be?

[larians.livejournal.com]

The IFS analysis was widely reported at the time, I read about it in the Guardian. It is illegal for any company or sole trader to trade while insolvent, I would guess that is what the investigation is about.