The Coalition Signs it's Own Death Sentence

The coalition (or, indeed, the Conservative Party) have announced many radical measures to fight the recession, such as making defense cuts, raising VAT to 20% etc., and until now, I have been willing to accept, and bear with these cuts - after all, as soon as the recession is over, things can return to normal. However, I feel that on Monday, the 5th of November, George Osborne made a foolish mistake, one which will cost both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Party dearly. I'm talking, of course, about the plan to axe Child Benefits

Naturally, many people may not be effected by this. Perhaps you don't have children, or maybe you earn enough to live without child benefit. However, most of the country will agree that this is nothing short of catastrophic. From a party who's Ideology clearly states that they "Support Families and Full Time Mothers", and during their election campaign AND emergency budget clearly stated they were "Not going to touch" Child Benefits, this is a very big mistake. Part of the beauty of child benefit was that ANYONE with children was applicable. This money could be saved up for extra-curricular activities, hobbies, or even essentials such as food and clothes.

Perhaps the worst thing about the new system is how it is run - as opposed to judging household income, which would make most sense, the Tories have based the system on tax brackets. This means anyone earning over £44000 will, from 2013, be illegible for child benefits. However, households where both parents work, and gain an income of £42000 each (combined £84000), will still recieve child benefit. This a) goes completely against the Tory Ethos of helping full-time parents, and b) will, again, effect the middle classes worst (who have already payed most of the cost in restoring the economy).

The Conservative party, of course, will be able to "forget this" eventually. However, for the other party in the coalition, the Liberal Democrats, this is a total disaster. Whilst the public has been sceptical of the coalition already, this leaves one definite opinion - it has, so far, been a total disaster. Whilst the conservative party CAN hold a mojority government, the Lib Dems rely heavily on coalitions. The "alternative voting" referendum going out next May, opening up the possibility of more coalitions in the future, could quite easily flop in light of these recent events. Really, the conservative party is just screwing The Liberal Democrats over. Is this democracy? No, it isn't.