Back in January Ed Miliband called government benefit cuts “punitive” and “unfair”, he said they “must not happen”. The month before he told the the Mirror that benefit cuts “showed they are not fit to govern because they played political games with people’s livelihoods”. He told the FT “I don’t want to be cutting benefits”. The polls showed he was on the wrong side of public opinion. Tomorrow he will endorse some sort of benefits cap and admit that Labour will not reverse £2.3 billion in child benefit cuts. In 2010, the new Labour leader told the BBC:
“It’s a cornerstone of our system to have universal benefits, and frankly there aren’t that many millionaires in this country. Families on £45,000 need child benefit in my view and it’s a way that society recognises the costs of having kids.”
Reverse ferret!
