LONDON: Gordon Brown was a skilled political saboteur, adept at setting snares for his enemies. Tax credits are a fine example.
Mr Brown created a major new welfare payment whose steady growth has left many people dependent on the state for some of their income. Just as Mr Brown surely intended, unpicking that snare by reducing those payments is proving controversial for his successor, George Osborne.
Conservative MPs, rightly conscious of the immediate consequences for low-income constituents, are nervous. They should remember that other major changes in welfare, such as the household welfare cap and the so-called “bedroom tax”, also drew warnings of political and social Armageddon; some even suggested that curbs on housing benefits would lead to the “ethnic cleansing” of major cities. Of course, such fears proved overblown. MPs wavering over tax credits should also recall they were elected in May after those cuts – and on a clear promise to cut another £12 billion from welfare.
