WYCOMBE MP Steve Baker, Conservative, writes about the controversial benefits cap policy and the Welfare Reform Bill which Parliament will vote on this afternoon.

As I write, today is a difficult day in the Commons. This afternoon, we vote on restoring to the Welfare Reform Bill the £26,000 per year benefits cap. The bishops organised its defeat in the Lords, claiming it would penalise the most vulnerable members of society. There are rumours some Lib Dem MPs will vote against the Government. It could be close.

David Cameron passionately believes the cap is right. I agree with him. Limiting the total yearly handouts to the average annual salary will restore real fairness to the benefits system. There is no morality in paying people more in benefits than the average working family earns. In future, it must never be more lucrative to be on benefits than in work. We cannot achieve that without the cap.

The Coalition is reforming with compassion. War widows, the disabled and people receiving Working Tax Credits will be exempted altogether. There will be a nine-month period of grace before the cap is enforced for the jobless who have a solid history of work. Although 67,000 households will have to move or find a job to make up the difference to their incomes when the cap comes in, a special fund will help affected families. There will be cash to help them move house if they can no longer afford rent in expensive areas.

The benefits system is extremely expensive but it has meant families out of work for years on end, even generations. Welfare dependency harms its recipients and costs society money that is needed for pensions, hospitals and schools. We must crack this problem and the benefits cap is vital to that aim.

As I write, I do not know how the vote will go but I hope for all our sakes – but especially for those families stuck in the benefits trap – that the Coalition wins.

What do you think of the policy?

Do you agree with the Government?

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