‘Amidst all of George Osborne’s triumphalism last week, the Chancellor slipped in two austerity measures that went somewhat under the radar – the welfare ‘cap’ and a freeze in council tax. Both threaten to have serious and damaging consequences for vulnerable people.
Speaking on Shelagh Fogarty’s BBC Radio 5Live show after the Autumn Statement, I insisted that, “welfare must be provided on the basis of need”. That’s a fundamental principle that you wouldn’t think would need to be defended, and yet it very clearly does need to be restated, and defended, loudly.
A real life example of that need was obvious in the account provided on 5Live by Sue, a mother of a disabled child, who spoke about how it has become increasingly difficult to get respite care; some relief from the grinding hard, emotional work of caring. She was a passionate, compelling, persuasive speaker – and if she has to fight for what little help she gets, it’s not hard to imagine how many miss out.’
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