closeicon

Simon Rocker

UKIP’s family-unfriendly benefit policy

November 24, 2016 23:06

UKIP tied itself up in knots last week, after announcing support for a ban on religious slaughter, only for senior party members to indicate they were looking for a way to backtrack.

But it is not the only policy that would not go down well within the Jewish community.

UKIP’s proposal to restrict child benefit to just two children – published on the party’s website would obviously hit large families without large budgets.

At the moment, child benefit is paid at £20.50 a week for the first child and for £13.55 for each child thereafter.

Chanoch Kesselman, executive co-ordinator of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregation, told me, “Since the family is central to Jewish life, any measure that would cause hardship to families would be viewed with the utmost deprecation."

Michoel Posen, director of the Agudas Israel Community Services in strictly Orthodox Stamford Hill, said that curbing child benefit “would be bad enough. But if they extended it to child tax credit, it would be a disaster.”

The idea of restricting child benefit to two children may not be confined to UKIP, however. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith was reported recently to have said it was “well worth looking at”.

I wondered what strictly Orthodox UKIP supporter Shneur Odze, who stood for the party in last year’s Euro-election, made of the benefit policy. He did not offer a comment.

November 24, 2016 23:06

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive