We're not all one size.

So a one size fits all approach to welfare isn’t ever going to work.

I don’t understand why people are falling for the coalition’s divide and conquer plate of cookies tactic. I think it’s all about headlines and soundbites. So, the headline “we’ll make sure no one gets more in benefits than the average family does on wages” sounds really good. After all, why *should* someone get more benefits than a working family?

Um, maybe because they need it?

Benefits are a safety net. They aren’t there so that people can check out of responsible society, but if people are behaving that way, penalising a whole sector of society to deal with a recalcitrant minority is just wrong. It’s like beating all your children because one is lazy. You know, just in case.

You’d end up with seriously disenchanted children. And that *is* what is going to happen with politicians. More and more people are going to wise up to what is going on, to the lies, the spin, and the utter lack of respect for the rest of society.

One of the many things about the benefit cap is there’s no flexibility for how many children you have. The House of Lords tried to take child benefit out of the assessment so that there’d be some money for larger families. The House of Commons reversed that change, and all others that would have mitigated some of the hit. So larger families are going to be disproportionately affected. I assume that they may need larger properties too, and therefore will be hit by the housing benefit aspect of the change as well, but although I’ve had a dig around, I haven’t found a straightforward breakdown of how this all works.

*If* there are large families out there who really are just having children in order to get housing and child benefit and live a life of luxury on benefits I can see why this would irritate hard working families. But I don’t really think they are legion. And if they are, the problem should be being addressed in a variety of different ways. Incentives and training programs to get into work. *not* by pushing children into poverty.

And when I tried to find someone on twitter to argue this out with me, although I could find people who agreed the notion of a benefits cap was sound, I couldn’t find anyone who thought it was right to penalise children for the acts of their parents.

Dear Mr Cameron, IDS, I think your time is running out. I think the country is beginning to wise up to the fact that you are repeatedly attacking a sector of society that did nothing to cause the predicament we’re in. I think that the electorate knows you are morally and intellectually bankrupt, you aren’t solving the economic problems we’ve got, or making the world a better place, and actually, you’re making it a lot worse.

Do you have an exit strategy?

You’re going to need one.