Newspapers throw kindling on the fire and justify the cuts to come
Fears that after the general election the right-wing press would cheerlead for every Tory policy, however awful, were realised almost instantly.
First it was their ‘war on the BBC’ mere days after the vote. Then they urged repeal of the Human Rights Act at the earliest convenience. (It must have been embarrassing to see David Cameron drop this from the Queen’s speech. Either way, the same newspapers helpfully dropped the subject too.)
Today it’s the turn of tax credits and the Child Poverty Act.
The Daily Mail complains about the cost of tax credits, especially on fraudulent claims or credits awarded by mistake, (which it puts at £17billion over ten years).
Even if we grant this figure, (arrived at by the Mail itself), since the government spends £30billion on tax credits each year, that’s £17billion out of £300billion – all of 5.6 per cent.
This hardly seems like a reason to scrap the whole thing.
Yet the Mail’s editorial pages seem to beckon just that, calling tax credits ‘A discredited subsidy’:
“Of all Labour’s legacies, among the most poisonous are Gordon Brown’s hugely complex tax credits, which have made 4.5million families part-dependent on the state…”
The editorial even seeks to discredit objections (‘howls from the Left, accusing the Tories of hammering society’s most vulnerable..’) before the reading public has heard them being made.
The Mail also commissions a former aid to the prime minister, Steve Hilton, to make a ‘compassionate conservative’ case for taking the axe to tax credits.
Meanwhile, the Murdoch-owned Times has the Child Poverty Act in its sights.
A front page story presents Mr Cameron’s view of matters, saying this ‘absurd law on children in poverty will be axed’.
The paper even dedicates a leader column to the flaws of the Act, calling repeal ‘a timely decision’.
(There is reason to believe the Times coverage followed a late briefing or notification from Downing Street. A piece on the Kurds (p31) directs readers to a leading article on p29 that doesn’t exist. Perhaps it was spiked for this one?)
The two targets are of course related. If tax credits are cut, (as may be necessary if the government wants to find £12billion of welfare ‘savings’), or scrapped altogether, child poverty will certainly increase, as it has done under this government already.
And if the method of measurement shows the wrong results, this government would rather change the measurement than change its policies.
How fortunate ministers must feel to have a press that will prepare its readers to accept and perhaps support whatever the government does – and to throw kindling on the fire.
Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter
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16 Responses to “Bonfire of the bills: Tory press hails scrapping tax credits and Child Poverty Act”
Cat
Funny that with figures showing Child Poverty is on the rise-the Tories decide that changes on the way its measured are needed…
stevep
Totally agree. If you`re interested, watch the 2015 Dimbleby lecture on YouTube with digital skills expert Martha Lane-fox explaining the power of the internet and how big companies and governments still don`t get it yet. It`s an eye-opener. https://youtu.be/5uBvapF9nxo
BlueApesRevolt
The UK press has played an enormous part in destroying the most civilised values and structures of post war Britain .The world dreamed of by Murdoch ,Dacre,Rothermere et al is materialising around us ..short sighted ,reactionary,parochial ,mistrustful ,viciously anti democratic,grossly unfair in terms of outcomes and opportunities etc This is all wrapped up in Orwellian phrases about “freedom ” and “hard work” (and in truth no matter how hard you work you may still be stuck in poverty in Murdochland .) and there is always a foreigner or a feckless scrounger to blame for Britain’s woes.
TN
LOL the bien pensants of LFF about to cry into their cereal because the net is being closed on benefit scroungers.
stevep
Absolutely correct. you are one of the few people I`ve come across who hasn`t succumbed to relentless far-right propaganda and actually “get`s” it.