Government Handouts - Yeah But No But

The right-leaning part of our free and fearless press has, until this weekend, viewed any kind of Government handout as A Very Bad Thing Indeed, unless of course it comes in the form of Government advertising for those same papers, in which case, well, don’t mind if I do, Squire. Anything that the lumpen proletariat gets, unless it earns it by lots of that good hard work that most hacks don’t do, can only lead to laziness and dependency.

It's OK if he does it ...

So it surprised no-one when, last May, the Murdoch Sun berated then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for a Universal Basic Income plan. “LABOUR’S basic income plan for all could cost over £100billion extra, it was claimed last night … at about £70 a week nationwide it would cost £288billion a year - up from £182billion on welfare now”.

Even the coming of a Government more to its liking, and the advance of the Coronavirus pandemic, did not persuade the Daily Mail. “An experiment with 'free money' in Finland made people happier but did not improve employment levels and would be 'unsustainable', a study has found”. Governments clearly should not go there. Or maybe they should.

Today’s Observer has told that “Radical plans to give all adults £500 and children £250 in vouchers to spend in sectors of the economy worst hit by the Covid-19 crisis are being considered by the Treasury. The proposals, drawn up by the Resolution Foundation think tank, which has had recent talks with the Treasury about its ideas, are aimed at kickstarting economic recovery by triggering a highly targeted surge in spending”.

... but not if he does

The Mail is rather more amenable to that idea, despite it essentially being the same thing as UBI, except in voucher form. “Rishi Sunak is urged to give EVERY Briton a £500 voucher to be used in shops, hospitality and tourism in a massive £30billion package to boost the economy”. But then, they like Sunak. And so does the Sun.

“Rishi Sunak urged to give £500 voucher to every UK adult to spend in coronavirus-hit high street shops … HOUSEHOLDS must be given vouchers worth hundreds of pounds to kick-start the ailing High Street, the Chancellor has been urged … Adults should be given £500 each and children £250 to support firms hit the most by the coronavirus outbreak”.

Moreover, the Sun’s deeply unpleasant Dan Wootton has compiled an exhortation to readers: “It’s our civic duty to support our favourite eateries and save the UK hospitality industry … The health and economic risks of staying in our homes cowering for the rest of time now far outweighs those of socialising while taking responsible precautions … It’s our civic duty to save the UK hospitality industry … About three million people rely on it for employment, getting on for ten per cent of the UK workforce”.

And what better way to support it than to use those vouchers that are now being enthusiastically promoted by his own paper, despite the price tag being in the tens of billions? Clearly, since May last year, a “free money” handout has stopped being a ghastly socialist aberration, and is now an excellent wheeze. Cos Rishi will be doing it.

The press will do anything to flog more papers. Including a little socialism.

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