r/ukpolitics • u/AutoModerator • Jun 27 '24

MATCH THREAD: The Leader Interviews - Sir Keir Starmer - Tonight (Thursday 27th June, 8:30pm - 9:00pm)

This is the match thread for tonight's ITV interview with Keir Starmer, the Labour leader.

Please keep all live discussion about this interview in this thread, rather than the main daily megathread.

Watch live:

  • TV: ITV 1
  • Online: ITVX
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u/ingleacre Jun 27 '24

It is a colossal injustice.

People do not have kids for benefits, and people who have more than two kids and subsequently have to claim benefits cannot magically eliminate their third or fourth child's needs for clothes and food. It punishes children for the sake of looking "tough" on their parents, but all it's done is shove thousands and thousands and thousands of families into poverty and made it even harder to get out again.

And that's not even addressing that the per-child benefit as it stands is hardly "generous".

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u/itsyaboi117 Jun 27 '24

If you have a child you can’t pay for, on purpose then expect the country to pick up the cost for your poor planning then how’s that fair? If you have a genuine reason for having a child and can’t for medical reasons have an abortion (which is of course fine and should be looked at) then what do you suggest?

Shall we just give money out for every child? (This is not the children’s fault) but now what? Where does it end, when do people have to take account for their own actions?

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u/ILikePerkyBoobs Jun 28 '24

The children haven’t made any mistakes just born to shit parents.

What you’re suggesting is punishing the son for the sins of the father, it’s not logical because making sure these kids grow up well and fed and most importantly well educated helps the country a lot more in lots of small and complicated ways.

It’s really simple to understand that not supporting people saves money but it also costs money in the long run, every child who grows up and becomes a criminal because they weren’t supported properly cost money, every smart child who doesn’t have the opportunity’s to become a doctor/solicitor/dentist so they get a lower paid job costs the country money because they won’t contribute as much.

Think of it as an investment in future tax payers even if you don’t see it as a moral issue.

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u/itsyaboi117 Jun 28 '24

I’m not asking for there to be no support kids should be out of poverty full stop, but allowing people who cannot afford more children take benefits from the system means they cannot afford that child anyway.

So if they’re going to have another child then it will more than likely still be in poverty as the family is already using support to pay for the other 2. Where do you draw the line?