Many disabled people and their families require routine support from national and local government. Disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty with a third of disabled people living in poverty across the life course. Disability benefits help families meet additional costs (for equipment, higher bills or accessible transport for instance).
Ceri Goddard, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, said:
“The Comprehensive Spending Review, like the previous emergency budget, hits women hardest. It is women who will be the main losers as jobs are cut, public services are rolled back and benefits are slashed."
"We are all in this together", but some are more in it than others.
The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that having children is a choice and “it's not going to be the role of the state to finance those choices”. “The number of children that you have is a choice and what we're saying is that if people are living on benefits then they make choices but they also have to have responsibility for those choices”.
People immediately pointed out that a couple may have decided to have a number of children while working, only finding themselves on benefits due to the current economic situation. Children would suffer as a result of the government's approach.
“The bankers who are most to blame for this crisis are getting billions in bonuses again, yet it is children in poverty who are paying the price,” said Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group.
If the Conservatives (and LD poodles) were serious about cutting our debt they would get the banks to pay back the money they owe us. Or cut things that are of no use, such as Trident, and perhaps one of those new aircraft carriers that have no planes. Or indeed increase taxes for the wealthy who have done rather well recently. The National Fraud Authority’s figures show tax evasion is costing the public purse over £15 billion per year! But the ConDems pursue those on benefits not these evaders.
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