Welfare Reform

Lord Campbell-Savours Excerpts

Tuesday 5th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

One difficulty of all welfare systems is their complexity. It is always difficult to draw the line between a complex system and one that is more arbitrary. The Government have made the right decision in this case.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, how can it be fair for a married couple on £80,000 a year to keep their child benefit while a married couple on £43,000 a year will lose it?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

The question that has to be asked is whether it is reasonable to ask somebody who is earning something like £25,000 a year to contribute through the tax system to the child benefit of people earning that sort of money.