Jeremy Hunt's child benefit failure

In today's budget the Tories have failed yet again to abolish a tax that has unfairly penalised millions of families since 2013

Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt failed to produce anything of note in today's budget

After years of campaigning, including in the national press, few can be unaware of the most iniquitous part of the UK tax code: the "high income child benefit charge". Under this policy, introduced by George Osborne despite yells of justified outrage, a household could earn up to £100,000 and keep all their child benefit, which is worth more than £1,800 a year to a family with two children. But if one parent had the audacity to earn over £50,000, the Treasury started to claw the benefit back; if they earned £60,000, the whole lot was forfeit. How can that possibly be fair? Today the government has raised those thresholds to £60,000 and £80,000 respectively -- but, demonstrating the tone deafness that will linger in the national memory long after this hopeless Tory regime is booted out to the wilderness, it failed to correct the central injustice. That £60,000 is a lot of money is not the point; the principle stinks.

Here's the excuse that is always trotted out: taxation is based on the individual, not families. Well that's an utter fallacy. If it were true, how would the Treasury know to claw back money from a father, when it is the mother that receives the child benefit? And don't forget that families have to take the benefit and give it back again or they are liable to lose national insurance credit.

Which leads to a bigger point, that tax is essentially an honesty-based system -- certainly now that the number of tax inspectors has been scythed down to the bare minimum. The state relies on "high earners" to cough up if they earn more than the threshold, and most people are honest and do pay the right tax, even if they violently disagree with it. There is no reason to think this would change if child benefit were forfeited fairly -- according to the income of the couple that raise the children.

The government made noises today about tackling this glaring injustice ... by 2026, when it won't be around. Pathetic.