The Sun called it “Bonk for Britain” and illustrated the story with a couple about to have sex: this is a cabinet minister’s notion, floated at the Conservative party conference last week, that women should get tax cuts to encourage a baby boom. The newspaper declines to name the minister, but reassures us that he or she is “top”, and gives a quote: “Look at the labour shortages we are suffering from. We need to have more children. The rate keeps falling. Look at Hungary – they cut taxes for mothers who have more children.” We need to be “weaned off our addiction to immigration”, apparently.
I have puzzled over the anonymity of this minister: so many utterly horrible views were aired at the Tory party conference, by people who were apparently proud to own them; so much dehumanising language about foreigners, about people in poverty, not to mention blue-on-blue backstabbing out in the open. Why should this be the idea to get coy about? Well, because it’s nastier than it looks.
