He giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other

BBC NEWS | Election 2005 | Election 2005 | Labour 'party of wealth creation'

Tony Blair is to give a keynote speech about the economy, branding Labour "the party of wealth creation".

Excuse me whilst I slip into "Laughing Policeman" mode for a sec...

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

That's better..... Anyway...

Let's talk about Family Tax credits and Child Tax credits for a second.

I have some friends who were in the unfortunate position of having to claim both of these tax credits. I will not name them until they give me permission. One set of friends were a couple who split up. When they had to contact the Revenue to reassess their tax credit position, they were told to pay the whole lot back, £5000... yes five bloody grand between them. One of them works part time and the other is working all the bloody hours of the day just to earn a livable wage. They are barely getting by as it is... How in the name of hell can they pay back that much money?! (Let's just say it is over 25% of their combined gross income).

I have another friend in a very similar position. He has a wife and two young children and the Revenue want over two grand back from him.

Whatever happened to the Pay as You Earn tax system? This is sickening. It is stuff like this that drives people to suicide and breaks up families.

The next time Bliar or Gordy tell you how many people have been lifted out of poverty by the New Deal or the New Labour tax credits, just remember that they are conveniently leaving out the huge number of people who are being asked to pay their tax credits back.

If this is Bliar's version of wealth creation then he can stick it.