Confronting the deficit - Universal allowances unaffordable

The public reaction to the budget kite that children’s allowance payments might be cut for some better-off families does not auger well.

It suggests that many of us have yet to grasp the great depth of our difficulties and accept that most of us, no matter how deserving, face a budget-provoked income cut before Christmas.

Virtually every response to the leaked suggestion has opposed it, ignoring completely the unavoidable truth that welfare payments account for around 40% of all Government spending and that something has to give. Nearly all of us acknowledge we cannot continue as we are, yet when a measure to reduce spending is proposed the squealing begins.