tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post1341860500724647653..comments2024-01-23T16:53:02.428+00:00Comments on Mark Thompson: Hasn't David Gauke got a point?Mark Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00744387583593537268noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-11311253225835789452012-11-18T16:27:54.044+00:002012-11-18T16:27:54.044+00:00I agree with asquith; universal benefits mean that...I agree with asquith; universal benefits mean that everyone feels like they have a buy-in to the welfare state, they reduce the chance of a poverty/welfare 'trap', give everyone involved more dignity and less stigma, and are easier to administer.<br /><br />Means-testing is a mealy-mouthed way for politicians who want to be tight-fisted without thinking the consequences through to make a few more pennies.<br /><br />Look at how New Labour trapped a generation of young people in a welfare trap in which working wasn't worth the effort.sanbikinoraionhttp://sanbikinoraion.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-21576283626750795262012-11-05T17:33:39.988+00:002012-11-05T17:33:39.988+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Cimidyuehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08999666533330011766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-56447857472178950912012-11-02T13:51:38.952+00:002012-11-02T13:51:38.952+00:00I agree with anonymous. The disincentives for peop...I agree with anonymous. The disincentives for people to earn and save more are simply too great. I wouldn't have child benefit at all if I were designing a welfare system from scratch, but I'm not, and given that it's going to exist then it should exist in its present form.<br /><br />It's GOOD that people earn a lot and their grannies have decent pensions, and they shouldn't have universal benefits withdrawn. It would only create more resentment felt by middle-earners towards the poor (ok, there's some resentment amongst childless people, but as I say child benefit is always going to exist as its total abolition would be even more suicidal than this for any party trying to do it).<br /><br />All that means testing does is encourage people to be poor and stay poor. Have we forgotten the last government, and the woes inflicted by working/child tax credits and the even worse pension credits? The coalition raised the basic state pension, rightly, and they are onto something with the universal credit, albeit some of the details need to be thought through more carefully.<br /><br />Are we now going to have people refusing to work longer or take on more responsibility because they are worried about their situation changing? (A situation which, again, the coalition alleviated at the lower end by its raising of the income tax threshold).<br /><br />This idea, which seems to have begun with Osborne, should in my view be forgotten. Ignore the usual stupid jeering about a "u-turn" and abandon the whole thing. In my view means testing is just an attempt to de-legitimise the welfare state and set the middle and upper middle class against the poor.<br /><br />I am not a fan of a sprawling welfare empire but what is given out should be means-tested as sparingly as possible.asquithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246701347539264295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-92038425617321713692012-11-02T10:19:46.854+00:002012-11-02T10:19:46.854+00:00Has anyone done a cost analysis of means testing s...Has anyone done a cost analysis of means testing such benefits.<br /><br />I do wonder if it will simply be cheaper to keep them universal, and then add .05% tax on upper brackets which uses existing administration.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com