After reading his article in today's Independent, I thought I'd give it a go.
No, no, no.Another David Cameron policy has been proved to be based on false right-wing myths in the past month – but who has told you about it? Who knows that his set-piece proposal for fixing Britain has just been shown to make things worse?
You know the script. David Cameron says "the only way to mend Britain's broken society" is to "mend the institution of marriage" by handing £40 a week to married couples. This Married Couple's Allowance would, he says, discourage them from splitting up.
Set aside the question of whether any couple would actually take a £40-a-week bribe to stay together. The logic behind the policy itself is based on a plausible-sounding reading of the facts.
As much as I oppose this policy, Hari has - not for the first time - failed to grasp what the Tories are looking to achieve.
Rather than attempting to incentivise unhappy couples to stay together, Cameron will remove the 'incentives' that keep them from marrying in the first place. Both the tax and benefits system are weighted against married couples, thus punishing people who decide to get married. This is what Cameron is seeking to change.
Jeesh...
3 comments:
Funny. I always thought marriage was a contract and that you thought the state should stay out of contracts.
I've been married 38 years this year I was a child when she caught me, but we got married in a registry office, cost £12.
But if we were courting now I doubt we have bothered since I've not believed in god since the priest beat the shit out of me at school. I was told once living in sin was wrong, whose sin.
Post a Comment