I have just received from HMRC an Annual Tax Summary for last year, showing in full colour (not cheap) how much tax I paid and a pie chart of what it was spent on.
Not surprisingly the largest amount is shown as going under the innocuous-sounding title of `welfare’.
Am I alone in taking exception to this blatant attempt to feed prejudice and soften up the public for further cuts? A big chunk of so-called welfare spending goes on working tax credits to top up low pay by employers unwilling or unable to pay decent wages, and housing benefit to pay extortionate rents.
But then, I suppose ‘subsidies to low-pay employers and greedy landlords’ is not going to catch on as a title.
The idea that most people on benefits are living the life of Riley on disposable incomes of £25,000 is a right-wing fantasy fed by a few bad apples commonly featured in a popular (other than in Hebden Bridge) daily newspaper which shall remain nameless.
Graham Heafford
Hebden Bridge