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Most British Jews will be pleased or relieved at the election result, if our poll indicating that a significant majority intended to vote Conservative was accurate.
But not everyone in the community will be feeling the same way. Here is an extract from a letter from an anonymous Orthodox Jewish school teacher from Golders Green which was published in last week’s edition of the Charedi weekly Hamodia:
“I am on a low wage and I’m forced to come on to government help for housing and basic expenditures.
“The current government has forced me to house my large family into a home priced under 400 pounds per week and has now doubled my council tax bill. The current government are proposing cutting housing benefit altogether for under-25s and will cap child benefit to two children. This will have a serious effect on many young families struggling financially…
“There is only one party who will probably not cut from the livelihoods of many amongst our kehillah even further.”
(Note: the Conservative party has not committed itself to reducing child benefit though there were pre-election hints that it might restrict it in future to three children – which would not effect existing families).