IDS launches the long-overdue drive for a benefit cap and the Maximum Leader is nowhere to be seen. What are the odds, huh?
Call me cynical, but I can't help thinking that this policy was meant as a piece of red meat to be thrown to the idiots (i.e. actual conservatives) before being reluctantly abandoned after 48 hours but, shockingly, it turns out that there really is a huge chunk of the public who object to paying taxes to give people more in welfare than they earn themselves.
They'll be saying the Mail outsells the Guardian next.
See, that's the penalty of basing your policy platform on appealing to a tiny slither of North London. You really do start to think that an income equivalent to £34K gross is the equivalent of Dickensian poverty.
Meanwhile, that creaking sound is one of the central pillars of the left's platform collapsing into dust. They've spent years telling everyone that the Tories are heartless. Now they've got to explain that by 'heartless' they mean 'opposed to taxing people with jobs so they can give some other people more for watching TV than most of the country earns working full time'. Virtually single-handedly IDS has exposed the bogus nature of the poverty industry.
Mind you, Daveism isn't looking much better. The whole essence of Cameroonacy was the idea of going along to get along. Nasty old ideology was thrown overboard, in favour of squelchy, right of left of right of centre consensus. Now IDS have gone ahead with some red meat conservatism and the left has had to hide behind a bunch of unelected men in frocks (who incidentally pay some of their employees far less than £34K).
On the plus side, I guess the left will have to put a hold on its ranting about faith schools for a month or so.
As ever though, when the subject of the Greatest Political Genius In History is raised, you have to ask: what definition of 'genius' are we using here?
Call me cynical, but I can't help thinking that this policy was meant as a piece of red meat to be thrown to the idiots (i.e. actual conservatives) before being reluctantly abandoned after 48 hours but, shockingly, it turns out that there really is a huge chunk of the public who object to paying taxes to give people more in welfare than they earn themselves.
They'll be saying the Mail outsells the Guardian next.
See, that's the penalty of basing your policy platform on appealing to a tiny slither of North London. You really do start to think that an income equivalent to £34K gross is the equivalent of Dickensian poverty.
Meanwhile, that creaking sound is one of the central pillars of the left's platform collapsing into dust. They've spent years telling everyone that the Tories are heartless. Now they've got to explain that by 'heartless' they mean 'opposed to taxing people with jobs so they can give some other people more for watching TV than most of the country earns working full time'. Virtually single-handedly IDS has exposed the bogus nature of the poverty industry.
Mind you, Daveism isn't looking much better. The whole essence of Cameroonacy was the idea of going along to get along. Nasty old ideology was thrown overboard, in favour of squelchy, right of left of right of centre consensus. Now IDS have gone ahead with some red meat conservatism and the left has had to hide behind a bunch of unelected men in frocks (who incidentally pay some of their employees far less than £34K).
On the plus side, I guess the left will have to put a hold on its ranting about faith schools for a month or so.
As ever though, when the subject of the Greatest Political Genius In History is raised, you have to ask: what definition of 'genius' are we using here?
2 comments:
"Now they've got to explain that by 'heartless' they mean 'opposed to taxing people with jobs so they can give some other people more for watching TV than most of the country earns working full time'. "
I can't wait for the case histories and sob stories to start being pushed to the front in the 'Guardian'.
That'll be red meat to the increasingly take-no-prisoners commentariat...
On the other hand, and despite the Lords defeat, I might be a bit nervous if I was IDS round about now. IDS’ plan is very popular with the voters. Remind me again what lacklustre leaders do about popular and successful subordinates?
Post a Comment