Off with their heads
I’m in Spain just now, so I’ve been slightly removed from the current stooshie about the Coalition government’s proposed benefit cap and hadn’t examined the detail. However I admit that when a reporter mentioned on TV news last night that the cap per family is to be £26,000, net, I raised one eyebrow, and then the other. I said nothing, though; I will leave that to others.
However, I said plenty this morning when I learned that the proposal was defeated in the House of Lords last night and that among those voting against were ‘The Bishops’. I am not against a bi-cameral system in principle. The ancient UK model is in need of reform, but that is on the way. However there is one change that should be made today; in my opinion it should have happened long ago. Don’t you find it outrageous, that proposed legislation can be voted upon by people who are only there because they hold promoted posts in one, and one alone, of the UK’s many organised churches? I don’t care how they vote, it’s the fact that they still can that gets to me. I pray that they are disenfranchised, sooner rather than later.
Quintin Jardine's blog 
Even if they represented all the Christian churches, sadly they would still be representing a minority group and most of them are so out of touch with reality. The vast majority of commentators on an ITV Facebook post said they were working and as a family could not earn £500 a week. What incentive is that for people to work? And the proposed cap for single people was £350 a week. Surely the equivalent of a single person’s pension (with the exception of those who have additional disability needs) should be sufficient for them. The biggest question, however, is just who is getting these over the top benefits?
There’s no case for Christians having exclusive rights. We wage war on Islamists, yet give Rowan Williams a vote in our Parliament. It cannot be defended.
As for the single person cap, I’d rather see the state pension rise to that level. But we can’t afford it, not while we’re squandering millions on nuclear weapons and Network Rail.
I have my views on the noble House of Lords but I think I will keep them to myself for now. I just wish that Sue and I had a joint income that high. I am sure there are people who really do need that much to live on but do they make the effort to earn it……