Budget: The myth that Osborne’s welfare cuts are wildly popular

Green Politics

So much for the centre ground of politics having shifted irrevocably to the right

 

Chancellor George Osborne will make £12bn in welfare cuts a central plank of his budget speech later today. Despite it being reported this morning that the chancellor plans to ‘slow’ the pace of the cuts, he is hardly taking his foot off the gas – the cuts will simply be carried out over three years instead of two.

The scale and pace of the cuts remain unprecedented. We know at present that Osborne is planning to: lower the benefit cap of £23,000 in London and lower it further in the rest of the country; remove tax credits from around 3.7million working families; disqualify most 18- to 21-year-olds from claiming housing benefit; and freeze the level of working-age benefits for two years from next April.

The scale of the changes will leave the welfare state growing at its slowest pace since 1948 – quite something considering the speed at which Britain’s population is ageing (and is therefore more reliant on social security in some form).

Leave aside for a moment arguments over the morality of taking money away from those with little of it already – all the while cutting inheritance tax for the top 6 per cent (only the top 6 per cent actually pay inheritance tax) – there is a myth doing the rounds that cuts to welfare of this scale are wildly popular.

That’s the Spectator’s James Forsyth, who is by no means exceptional in assuming that it’s a vote winner to bash those on benefits.

Yet a ComRes poll for the Daily Mail, out this morning, reveals the opposite. According to this, six in ten (57 per cent) of Britons oppose the potential £12 billion cuts to welfare spending. And it’s supported by just half (52 per cent) of Conservative supporters, with 43 per cent opposed to it. Just a quarter (24 per cent) of Labour supporters back the cuts.

Meanwhile, according to the same poll, the proposed tax cut for top rate tax payers is the least popular of Osborne’s policies; just a third (33 per cent) of Britons polled say they support cutting the rate from 45p to 40p for those earning over £150,000. Six in ten (61 per cent) oppose the tax cut – even among Conservative supporters 57 per cent are opposed.

As for an inheritance tax cut, slightly over half (53 per cent) support increasing the inheritance tax threshold while 39 per cent oppose it. And raising the threshold for the 20p rate of income tax would be supported by eight in ten (80 per cent) of Britons.

So much, then, for the centre ground of politics having shifted irrevocably to the right.

James Bloodworth is the editor of Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter

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16 Responses to “Budget: The myth that Osborne’s welfare cuts are wildly popular”

  1. stevep

    There never has been popular support for reckless welfare cuts. The right wing press attempt to demonise the poor and popularise cuts but aren`t as successful as they think they are.
    The British people are inherently decent and respond to politics that benefit the whole. That`s why they voted for the Attlee Labour government in 1945 after they promised to implement the Beveridge report and end poverty in this country.
    British decency will also see through the smoke and mirrors created to defend and justify attacking the weak, the sick, the disabled, the unemployed and the disadvantaged.
    British decency will respond to a promised reversal of these unfair cuts and a radical agenda to put British people at the heart of decision-making, backed by a fully-costed progressive taxation policy to fund it.
    Let`s make Britain Great again!

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  3. Matthew Blott

    Don’t assume “British decency will also see through” means voters will come running to a leftwing opposition. Greece’s economy has shrunk by 25 per cent – more than the US during the Depression – and yet 4 in 10 voters endorsed the weekend’s referendum to continue with more of the same. Voters will only leave the Tories if they think another party can be trusted to run the economy.

  4. stevep

    But 6 in 10 Greeks rejected it, which is more important.
    The last election was a fluke result no-one predicted. Much has been said about the economy, but the last Tory-led government were no masters of it.
    In a campaign of blandness and uncertainty It might have been something as prosaic as Better-the-devil-you-know logic that determined the result of the election.
    If unfairness continues and poverty deepens I think the decency of the British people will shine through and we`ll see less support for the right.
    Let`s hope the left are up for it.

  5. Matthew Blott

    It was not a fluke but you can interpret a clear election win for the Tories as you will. If we have to see the economy shrink by a quarter to fulfil your dream then don’t mind if I pass 🙂

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