Don’t expect middle classes to make all the sacrifices
LISTENING to Nick Clegg anyone would think that middle-class parents are in receipt of sacks of gold from the State.
So everyone should be clear that the child tax credit is merely a device to lighten the overall tax burden of workers who happen also to be bringing up children.
It is not, as has been put about, an example of an excessively benevolent state, just an instance of hardworking people being allowed to keep some more of their own money than would normally be the case.
When the Deputy Prime Minister, who is paid £134,565 and whose wife is estimated to earn £300,000, says he thinks people with household income of a little over £30,000 “do not need” this break he may fairly be regarded as residing on another planet.
Raising the tax bill of middle-earning parents by more than £500 a year will in reality create a significant disincentive in the workplace. Some workers could be made poorer by a pay rise or a promotion.
Almost everybody understands that economies must be found. But if Mr Clegg thinks Middle Britain will tamely accept being targeted for the bulk of the sacrifices then he has another think coming.