What I meant by picking and choosing was that I don’t find the distinction between the benefits you listed and housing benefit as convincing.

“No, you’re picking and choosing in an attempt to suit your argument. It hasn’t worked.”

Huh? The examples I picked were the most significant services and benefits that are, as a matter of fact, universal (or were until recently). So I’m hardly cherry-picking! I’m just trying to explain what I think is the rationale between giving everyone a pension when they get old, but not giving everyone an allowance to live in a rented house in London whether they live in London or not.

“And as for ‘Chuntering Testicles’, aside from having coined yet another possible nickname for Labour’s discredited Shadow Chancellor, you’ve not enhanced your point in any way. About as witty and helpful as me inserting a ‘g’ before your username.”

That was intended to be an amusing variant on your username (which is after all a joke to begin with) – not an insult. It could have become a hilarious running joke – “Nattering Nutsack”, “Garrulous Gonads” etc etc. No offence meant.

You cannot stigmatize the poorest in society by capping benefits such as child benefit exclusively for them. What’s more that isn’t saving any money; when this came out, it was revealed that it will help pay for Cameron’s marriage tax bribe.

On NMW, the very real risk is that unscrupulous employers could exploit this louphole to bring down costs and bring up profits.

Same old tories…

The problem is that means-testing itself is often done in uneven, damaging ways – child benefit being changed to penalise single-earner families is one example – and things like the minimum wage, which SHOULD be an absolute, is attacked under the cover of it.

Unless I can be assured that these things WON’T be attacked, I’ll oppose errosion of universal benefits purely to defend those. No, it’s not optimal, but the Tories have shown these chances can’t be given to them.

Society’s return can be seen clearly in things like the rapid, virtually unpredicented, fall in child poverty. Which is turning rapidly back the other way now, under your Tories.

Ash – Reinstate proper rent boards, and most people will be able to afford accomodation. Combine that with a hefty tax on unoccupied properties…