The Ignorance of Ignoble Politicians

While Labour joined forces with Church of England Bishops and Lib Dem rebels to defy Coalition plans to limit welfare hand-outs, the only problem lay in the fact that their collective political idylls are in stark contrast to a YouGov survey showing 76 per cent are in favour of a benefit cap.

Despite ethical outrage of the Bishops and political grandstanding by politicians, if anything good can be taken from the House of Lords’ rebellion against capping benefits at a maximum of £26,000 a year, it is that in so far as it goes, they are as out of touch as they are irrelevant to the working and taxed population who have to manage on substantially less.

Unlike Westminster politicians who are still stealing taxpayers money on the spurious guise of claiming ‘expenses’, it’s hardly surprising that they know all about getting something for nothing.  Yet given how recently an unemployed graduate made to work for her benefits as a shelf stacker at Poundland claimed it was her human right not to do so, is it any wonder why the political elite stand alone?

But knowing how £26,000 isn’t enough to subsidise a Parliamentarian’s John Lewis account, but with a basic salary of £65,000, the chances are they wouldn’t actually recognise what real poverty is.  But for everyone else who has to live in the real world, fatuous ermine-clad speeches delivered by redundant Lib Dems and obsolete Labour politicians undermine the message of what is acceptable and affordable.        

Or to put it more succinctly, if 76 per cent of the public understand it, why can’t they?