Minnie’s Musings

Twice this week (actually last week as for hot to post) I have been reminded of just how appalling the previous government was. Once while watching Prisoner 9**51 as Boris Johnson made an ill-informed and counterproductive statement to Parliament, giving the Iranian government yet more reason to stall. And then the BBC investigation into the costs of the COVID inquiry.

Public money has disappeared down the drain of legal fees (presumably with the rest of the sewage) as the previous government attempted to avoid, prevaricate and hide its mistakes rather than fess up to poor decisions made in a high pressure crisis not seen since the early 20th Century. Holding your hands up and admitting such mistakes ends the accusations and wafts away some of the stench.

There are many epithets that can be applied to elements within the Conservative Party. Self-serving,, scandal-ridden and stupid is an alliterative selection. And our otherwise beleaguered chancellor Rachel Reeves gave us a timely reminder of quite how nasty they could be when focusing on the “rape” clause applied to the Two Child Benefit Cap.

So great was the desire to punish women who do not reside in a three bedroom semi in the suburbs, to punish their offspring, to turn families who have the temerity to want more than a population shrinking duo of sproglets into social pariahs, that they inserted a vicious clause into legislation where a woman who has been raped, and therefore had conception inflicted upon her, had to prove it if she chose not to abort a child which she could not afford to feed. That is just plain nasty.

Child benefit is means tested. Fine. Not every family needs it. Child benefit is paid to mothers by default so they have direct access to monies that might otherwise be p*^%#d up against the wall on a Friday night. Child benefit amounts to £43.30 a week for two children, roughly what you might spend on a meal out with a glass of wine.

Is it enough to put food in the mouths of children? Given the frequent reports of parents going hungry so their children can eat plus the plethora of food banks… perhaps not. But it is something. And such benefits are how we avoid the extremes of poverty visible elsewhere in the world.

Harrumph.