The welfare money-go-round

Next week’s spending review will involve hard decisions. Hundreds of thousands of jobs will go. People in work will find employment conditions less generous with, for example, greater contributions required for their pensions. People out of work will find benefits provide less assistance and be under greater pressure to return to work. Goods in shops will be more expensive, with the basic VAT rate going up, some new schools will no longer be built, more hospitals will be under pressure to close and students will face higher tuition fees.
 
These changes are necessary but are just the start. To get the deficit under control in this Parliament, much more will be needed than this. A good place for further attention would be middle class welfare. Every year the Government spends the tens of billions of pounds on welfare payments to families who are well-off. Cutting this assistance would save money and make the welfare system fairer.