Letter: Benefits problem

The absurdity of paying benefits to the wealthy should have been addressed decades ago but the whole scenario is such a hot potato that even the Blessed Margaret flinched.

It is a complex issue which goes far beyond the perception of what is fair to what is within the bounds of financial perversity and complexity. Means-testing government services has failed in the past because the administrative costs and delays in processing applications outweigh any potential benefit.

The legendary inefficiency of the British civil service simply results in yet more bureaucratic red tape, while the effect at the sharp end is to encourage fraud and idleness.

I wish the coalition all the luck in the world but that dedicated reformer Rab Butler would surely remind them of Bismarck's warning: "Politics is the art of the possible."

(Dr) John Cameron

Howard Place

St Andrews

Predictably, the letters page (6 October) contained a number of irate correspondents in relation to the Chancellor's recent child benefit announcement. It appears that these people have reacted without thinking about the nature of the benefit which they now must forego.

The cut in child benefit, a handout designed to create exactly this type of outrage should any chancellor be brave enough to address it, represents a relationship between family and state which is, to use a popular buzzword, unsustainable, and illiberal.

The decision to have a child is taken by a couple, and should be based purely on their ability to support that child from their own incomes. The idea that the state will encourage couples to have children by providing a weekly sweetener is illiberal and goes some way to conveying the problem with our benefits system, as well as the magnitude of the retrenchment required.

Mr Osborne is correct: we are all in this together, and unfortunately "together" includes the middle classes.

David Leishman

Afton Court

Stirling

No doubt once the coalition's cuts are fully revealed the stage will be set for a government v unions battle; in reality it should be a case of the rest of us against both, as neither side confronts the situation honestly.

Reckless banking practice was only the match which lit the blue paper of wanton public spending; we've been living beyond our means, so belts must now be tightened. Public service unions are intent on preserving both jobs and salaries, yet a brief glance at any council list will reveal a host of obviously unnecessary posts, allied to ridiculous upper level incomes.

But the greatest overmanning lies in government, with MPs, MSPs, MEPs and councillors all draining the public purse. We should scrap the pointless House of Lords, reduce all parliamentary salaries and slash our European Union contributions by half. We simply can't afford any of these extravagances.

Robert Dow

Ormiston Road

Tranent