Politicians prefer to contact voters with good news. Their mailshots and manifestos normally contain a combination of boasts about their brilliant achievements and promises of great things to come. This week, though, the Government will write to a million people to give them a personal reminder of some bad news.
All parents who earn more than £50,000 will receive a letter informing them that they are about to lose child benefit. About 15 per cent of families will find themselves significantly worse off — more than £1,000 a year for those with one child, and almost £2,500 for those with three. And as it is almost always the mother who receives the monthly payments, it’s going to look as if it’s women and children first