Crunching child benefit numbers

200,000 people are alleged to have voluntarily opted out of child benefit just recently.

To me that speaks of a great deal.

It says to me that people are public spirited enough to recognise that they may not need to claim it in a difficult financial climate.

I would suggest that it also hints at the fact that the families in this country are getting more financially secure, definitely no bad thing.

Being mean

But it also suggests to me that means testing is not necessary.

There is the hint that all you need to do is make people aware of the strain that the benefit causes and persuade them to forgo it if they do not need it.

Sure, perhaps I have my head in the clouds.

But I know the government is trying to cut the fiscal debt and strangely putting a load of people to work means testing a benefit means more money ploughed in, which instead could be used to raise the benefit to strengthen the situation of those who do need it.

Years of Kilroy

We have had are head ploughed so full of Jeremy Kyle and Kilroy Silk that we no longer have respect and compassion when talking about benefits anymore.


We're so busy talking about "broken Britain" that we have no time for talking about beautiful Britain.

Our obsession with "messed up families" has made us blind to embracing diverse and post-modern living arrangements.

"There's nowt so queer as folk" and that's actually quite wonderful.

So quit with the cuts, repeal them, it will only break not build.