Bishops are wrong to block benefits cap

From: RM Stockton, Acklam Road, Middlesbrough.

THE 15 Church of England Bishops who voted against the benefits cap of £26,000, as being far too parsimonious, will no doubt, vote against my proposal that the State Pension should be capped at £26,000 as being far too generous!

Can all those supposedly disadvantaged benefit claimants and the Moaning Minnies who support the status quo, in particular the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, explain to the millions of pensioners in this country how the basic State pension of £102.15 a week – £5,300 per year – is adequate?

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“Go forth and multiply”, to claim all the child benefits, housing benefits etc, is clearly the new religion.

From: Paul Morley, Ribblesdale Estate, Long Preston, Skipton.

SO some bishops think it is wrong to cap state benefits at £26,000 as it will put many families into poverty.

I can only assume then that they also believe that people who actually work for a living, many on less than £26,000, and still manage to bring up their children must already be in poverty.

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Do they also agree that people like myself, retired with a private pension, still paying tax and on a lot less then £26,000 a year are also struggling in poverty?

Why then are the purple-robed eminences not speaking up for me and the millions of people like me who are living on less than this magic £26,000 a year but still paying taxes for the workshy and feckless to live a life of luxury that some of us can only dream of?

If children end up in this so- called poverty, don’t blame the system. Blame the scrounging parents who see churning out a few more kids as a “wage” increase.

From: John Watson, Hutton Hill, Leyburn.

YOUR timely Editorial (Yorkshire Post, January 23) concerning the Bishops’ criticism of the Government’s benefit capping was very apt.

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If, as you say, women are having children just to boost their benefits, it is a deplorable situation.

Do the Bishops really know what is going on? Are they aware of the abuse of the benefits system? Apparently not!

Iain Duncan Smith has applied himself, with great credit, to research the whole of the benefits system.

There doesn’t seem to be any doubt that in many cases the children’s allowance is not being spent as intended.

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If I was him, I would insist that this be paid in vouchers so that it hits the right target and that only the first four children would qualify.

It is not fair to ask the taxpayer to keep paying out to people who have no intention of working.

From: John Gordon, Whitcliffe Lane, Ripon.

THE defeat of the capping bill in the House of Lords shows British democracy in all its glory. A perfectly reasonable idea, designed to save the taxpayer a great deal of money, is kicked into the grass by an unelected body, influenced by religious leaders who are there simply because they belong to what is now an unrepresentative body, the Church of England.

From: Betty Peel, Wharfedale, Filey.

IS the benefits cap of £500 per week really exactly that or can the recipients claim extra for free school meals for all their children plus free dentistry, free prescriptions, free eye tests and glasses, free bus fares?

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Anything else? I know of a working family whose children would love to have school meals every day but they can only afford to pay for them for part of the week.

Bank chief is selling assets

From: Dr Robert Heys, Bar Lane, Ripponden, Halifax.

IT is widely reported that Stephen Hester, who succeeded the discredited Sir Fred Goodwin as the Royal Bank of Scotland’s chief executive in 2008, has since then received an eye watering £7.7m in remuneration.

This is despite the fact that he has, without consulting RBS clients, presided over “the sale of RBS branches and accounts in England and Wales, and NatWest branches accounts in Scotland” to the Spanish conglomerate Santander as set out in a statement sent to me from the RBS chief executive in England and Wales confirms.

Astonishingly, this transaction seems to have been unopposed by the UK Government which owns over 80 per cent of RBS’s assets, inaction which is clearly contrary to previous ministerial statements. It’s hard to believe that the acquisition of RBS assets by Santander is not contrary to this country’s best interests.

From: Ken Holmes, Cliffe Common, Selby.

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WHY all the fuss about Sir Fred Goodwin? If we had to rely on morality to put Yorkshire pudding and roast beef on our tables, we would see more dinner times than dinners.

Sir Fred has followed the old proverb: “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.” He has laughed all the way from one bank to another.