Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Troublesome Generals

When President Lincoln was urged to get rid of Grant because of excessive casualties, he responded

 ‘I cannot spare this man. He fights.’

President Obama will be pondering on this historical parallel today.

Cuts Debate

The government has signalled that if additional cuts can be found in the Welfare bill, some services may be spared the worst. This Blog would advocate going further on the benefits reform.

When the 1945 Labour landslide heralded the creation of the Welfare State times were different. The poor were to be uplifted to better times and cared for in a way previously unseen. But alongside the traditional working class there was a class of increasingly impoverished gentility, living on shrunken incomes in houses too big to heat, without pre-war servants or domestic skills, struggling to keep up appearances, who were more than happy to accept the benefits of free health care and old age pensions, albeit covertly. I had an elderly aunt who collected her old age pension from Harrods post office (they had one then) ‘because they were so discreet’.

Times are now quite different and the gap between the wealthy and the wealthless is wider than  at any time in the post war period. There is no longer a need to support everyone. Neither is the concept of universal benefits empowering. Child benefit, the state retirement pension, winter fuel allowance, free bus passes etc should be universally available but fade when income from all sources passes £30,000 pa or £40,000 per family.

There is no longer a need to give these things to everyone whether they need it or not. It is right to recognise that the low paid, retired and vulnerable who are living on lower incomes which benefit the whole economy, should receive support. If we paid refuse collectors and health ancillaries enough to afford private health care the country would go bust anyway or taxes would be exotic to create the necessary cash flow.

Moreover there is no need for health care or education to be free across the piece. There could be charges per visit to the doctor, hospital or therapist, paid by those not eligible for free prescriptions, just as we pay for the dentist. Not the full cost but a contribution. Likewise it makes nonsense for children to be dropped off for free education in a £30,000 4×4. A charge of £2000 p.a per child is a lot cheaper than the £10000 to go private or the £20000 plus for boarding. Free education is a must for those whose family budget simply cannot pay, but is not a must for those who actually can.

This is not a right wing agenda, but a practical way forward. Our present system feeds the prosperous and starves the needy. The overall bill has crippled the economy. If we are going to sort it, lets do it properly. Then we will get the budget balanced and the debt paid off much quicker and be on safer path for the future. The economy will be stronger and business and industry will create more jobs. Everyone will be better off.

On the other hand Labour, presently arguing about detail and timing and not about principle, would be able to create an alternative universal welfare package to put to voters, together with an explanation of how to pay for it without running a deficit. This would mean much, much higher taxes. That would give the electorate real choice.

All this presses a further issue. It is time for a single tax rate and a unified tax and benefits system. The piecemeal approach driven by mountains of forms and bureaucratic structures is crazy.