Here are two conflicting quotes that lit up my eyes this week:
Hugo Rifkind in satirical response to people telling him that the Conservatives, “hate the poor - they’re removing their benefits.”
“No, no, they do that because they want to help the poor... they genuinely believe that, for example, a single mother on benefits with 6 kids, the only thing that’s stopping her from being, say the CEO of a multinational company is that she is disincentivised by the government giving her too much money… They actually believe this!”
“The News Quiz”, BBC Radio 4, 5th Oct 2012
And then came these words from David Cameron in his speech at the Conservative Party Conference, 10th Oct 2012:
“I’m not here to defend privilege; I’m here to spread it.”
According to Allister Heath, editor of ‘City AM’ newspaper: “That is exactly what all pro-aspiration governments should be trying to do: they should not hit the already successful, but allow as many people as possible to become successful. They must encourage wealth-creation, not seek to redistribute existing wealth. Cameron also delivered a passionate defence of Michael Gove’s education reforms and Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare overhaul, making the case in moral terms for improving children’s education and allowing the poor to regain their dignity by moving out of dependency.”
