There was always going to one of the government’s dynamic duo making our list and, to be honest, my money was on Clegg. But David Cameron has stepped forward to take the accolades and enter himself as a contender.
Why? Because David Cameron thinks giving tax breaks to families so they can hire a cleaner is the way to help mothers go back to work after having children.
WHAT? I hear you cry. How will that help? Well its simple. He’s been to Sweden.
In Sweden, nurseries are part funded by the government, which means the cost to the parent is kept relatively low. In addition, there is a maximum fee policy of 3%, meaning families will not spend more than 3% of their income on childcare.
The Swedes also offer tax breaks on stuff like cleaning, gardening, cooking and childcare makes a mother’s decision to return to work easier and without having to pay for any help out of post tax income. This system halves the cost of hired help.
But our Prime Minister has chosen to ignore the other benefits and focussed on the tax breaks for cleaners instead of childcare. “What you do in Sweden in terms of tax help and tax relief, not so much on childcare but on other things that help women go back to work,” says Cameron.
Now forgive me if I’m wrong, but surely a woman’s first thoughts when deciding to go back to work, other than the money, is for the child’s care, not the fact that she hasn’t got time to hoover or clean the bathroom.
The fact is, in Britain, women choose not to go back to work because in many cases what they would earn will go straight into the pockets of a childminder. Effectively, many working mothers are only working to keep childminders employed. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but that sounds a little odd to me.
But in Cameron’s head, mothers should hire a cleaner and that would give them an opportunity for a tax break. So basically, Mrs X would go back to work, employ a cleaner and pay less tax, yet the cleaner would pay full tax. What if a mother goes back to work as a cleaner and hires herself to clean her own house? That might be a little too confusing, even for a super human like Cameron.
The only people this sort of tax break would benefit would be rich mothers who really can’t be arsed to clean their own house.
I knew that when starting this competition, politicians would figure highly, but I didn’t expect to get two out of the first three.
David Cameron, if you implement a plan such as this, you will earn the admiration and respect of no decent working family. Get back to reality and give tax breaks to those that deserve it, that desperately need it.
But I know you won’t which is why, David Cameron, you have become a worthy candidate for Tool of the Year.
May the force be with you
Jedi Master Bob
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