Scapegoat politics

Jimmy Savile, Mick Philpott, Graham Ovenden – all three committed their offences against women, children or young people virtually in the public gaze. The public tended to gaze back with a certain degree of fascination, not unmixed with admiration – until somebody, finally, made a complaint to the authorities, or gross tragedy. intervened.

It is unworthy of our politicians to use these grotesque examples as a stick with which to beat others, especially those who claim child benefit.

It may even be the case that Mick Philpott’s ‘(two) families showed up as hard-working, strivers in the official counts of claimants. Benefits being paid not to one father of 11 but to two mothers, one of five, one of six children, both of whom also went out to work

The recent ONS report on family size showed that families with three or more dependent children are less likely to have at least one parent working than are those with only one or two to take care of, with the comment that ‘This illustrates the greater challenge of combining work with childcare with three or more children compared with one or two.’

Links
R -v- Philpott, Philpott & Mosley: Sentencing remarks of Mrs Justice Thirlwall
Graham Ovenden
Family size 2012