Fairness should never be a numbers game (Twickenham & Richmond Liberal Democrats)

Fairness should never be a numbers game

August 26, 2010 11:47 AM

clegg cable pmqs • [Aug 25] Nick Clegg writes: THIS government has put delivering fairness at the heart of our agenda and, like the British people, we have a clear sense of what we mean by the word. Fairness is about every child getting the chance they deserve, regardless of their background . .

These ideas are easy to understand, but difficult to translate into numbers and statistics . . This government is having to make difficult choices in order to cut the deficit. But over time, those changes will help the economy to grow and create opportunities . . There is nothing fair about ducking decisions and burdening the next generation with debt.

But our determination to enhance social mobility goes deeper than that. We are going to increase people's incentives to work by radically simplifying the welfare system and by raising the income tax threshold, to make sure that work pays. By next April we will have already taken nearly 900,000 low earners out of tax altogether, and that's just the start. We have lowered corporation tax, which will encourage businesses to grow and take on more staff, and created a special incentive in the national insurance system for small businesses outside London that take on new employees. All these changes will over time help people into work, which is the best and most sustainable route out of poverty.

. . It will take some time before everybody feels the benefits of the substantial reform we want to see. If fairness was a simple matter of benefits and taxes, it would be easy to achieve. But fairness that lasts demands bigger changes to the way we teach children, the way we encourage work and the way we create growth. Those changes are what really matter, and they are what this government will be - and should be - judged on in the end.

Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats: