Proof that David Cameron is totally f**king clueless

[T_i_B]

What amuses me most about this daft idea is the claim that this is for the middle classes. Since when do middle managers employ domestic staff? Does the term "middle class" even mean anything anymore?

I know David Cameron is an upper class twit but even then it beggars belief that he can be so far removed from the real world.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/09/boardroom-bathroom-david-cameron-women

David Cameron is examining the idea of tax breaks for people who hire cleaning or other household services, as a way of generating extra jobs and freeing more women so they can join the workforce.

Speaking at a Nordic summit in Sweden, he said he was interested in its government's tax break that has been praised for reducing the hidden economy in cheap domestic labour.

The break, however, has proved hugely controversial in Sweden, leading to claims that it is regressive and class bound.

The Swedish government allows people to deduct from their tax bill half the cost of household services such as cleaning, cooking, lawn-mowing, snow-shovelling and babysitting.

But social democrats have claimed that a relatively small group of wealthy Swedes, earning more than 50,000 kronor (£4,700) a month, are far more likely to make use of the subsidised services than lower paid households. And mainly immigrant labour has benefited, they say.

[oldironside]

1. It's a fantastic idea...

... if you are a rich man who wants to be richer. Imagine! The government (i.e. the taxpayer) paying half the cost of your domestic servants. Even the Toffs in Upstairs Downstairs never got that.

[Sea-Dog]

2. the main 3 are all upper class twits nt

[SwissTony]

3. Are women being kept out of work because they have to do house cleaning?

Kids I can see. But house cleaning? Not so much.

And the jobs being created are low paid, non=productive jobs.

[LeftishBrit]

5. And when one's talking about domestic help for middle class people...

even when they do employ help, it's generally something like an hour or two a week. Hardly a fantastic job creation scheme!

[LeftishBrit]

4. If they have the money to spend on subsidizing domestic help...

why not spend it, instead of helping well-off people to hire servants, on helping disabled people to get the assistance in crucial areas that they may need just to get on with their lives?

What might one call that? I think a good name might be the Disability Living Allowance.

Which they are cutting to a horrifying extent.

This government robs the poor to help the rich on a constant basis.

In Sweden, people expect to pay higher taxes, and a lot of it goes on preventing poverty. If, over and above that, the Swedish people are prepared to pay taxes to subsidize what are essentially luxuries, that's their business; but it should not become a substitute for helping those who are really in need.

Was Michael 'Give the Queen a new yacht' Gove involved in this proposal?

[oldironside]

6. Excellent point.

Rob the taxpayer to give to the needy, not to the bloody Bullingdon Club.