Don't mind the gap

The tax burden gap between rich and poor may have narrowed since David Cameron became Prime Minister, but a gap nevertheless remains - which is why Labour and the TUC are right to demand that plans to cut tax credits (which will inevitably cause the gap to widen once more) are scrapped. Will the Tories listen? Not likely. True to type, George Osborne appears rather more inclined to cutting the top rate of income tax instead.

And that's not all the Tories are up to. No doubt well aware that the tax credits cut is likely to push more people into poverty (with the inevitable impact that has on children and their life chances), they've simply decided to scrap the eradication of child poverty as a target. You'd have thought Iain Duncan Smith might have some sympathy for those in debt, given his own much publicised financial woes.

So, in sum, what a truly lovely bunch the Tories are. And what a lovely bunch of fuckwits a sizeable proportion of the electorate is, for putting them in the position to take these decisions.