Judges should not meddle in politics
IN my opinion there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying prayers before public meetings.
For centuries MPs have said prayers before each day’s business in the House of Commons. But a recent High Court ruling decided that putting prayers on the agenda of a council meeting was not allowed under the Local Government Act 1972!
Obviously no-one must have noticed that they were in breach by saying prayers for the last 40 years . . . how absent-minded of them!
Frankly it should be obvious that Parliament in 1972 had no intention of making prayers before council meetings illegal when they passed that Act.
It seems to me that our High Court judges are becoming increasingly willing to intervene in politics and substitute their own narrow judgment for those of the elected government.
Some organisations have even gone to court to ask judges to order the government not to save public money in one way but to do it in some other way!
Why should a judge make that decision when he cannot possibly see the full picture and has no overview of the public treasury finances?
Judges would do well to remember they are not elected to make those decisions.
I am glad to see Northampton Borough Council has said it plans to continue with the traditional prayers and I congratulate and support the authority for that.
Talking of religion and politics (a risky combination as we all know!) several Bishops in the House of Lords objected recently to a Coalition Government proposal to place an upper limit on the maximum amount of benefits one family can receive.
But in a recent poll some 69 per cent of voters surveyed said they supported the planned benefits cap . . . and I can understand why.
The proposal is to limit the amount of benefits that any one family can collect from the Government to £26,000 per year. Benefits recipients don’t pay tax on their benefits so this means they will receive the equivalent of someone earning £35,000 before tax!
How can that not be fair?
The average salary in Northampton is about £22,000- before tax. So why should someone be able to earn more on benefits than they can do in work?
Under the old system, it has also been possible to claim up to £100,000 in Housing Benefit.
The experts say that most people spend a quarter of their income on accommodation, so that vast sum is probably what someone earning £400,000 a year would spend on their housing!
When it comes to spending taxpayer’s money on things, is it not also right to consider whether it is fair on the taxpayers?
Apparently one priest wrote to the government saying that he wished the bishops would remember that his salary as a priest was less than the £26,000 benefit cap that his Bishop was arguing was unfair!
The annual bill to taxpayers for Housing Benefit is a shocking £20 billion nationally. To put that in context that sum is more than half of the total defence budget and more than a third of the total education budget.
Not only will the cap on Housing Benefit bring fairness back to the welfare system, it will also encourage landlords to reduce rents, which some currently tend to inflate to take advantage of the Government’s policy. The amount of homes available should also increase.
When Universal Credit is introduced, anyone working even just four hours a week will be better off in work.
That is better for society, better for the taxpayer and indeed better for the individual involved. Nothing can be fairer than that!
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