LETTERS Middle-class cupidity
Sir: Poor 'Poor Caroline' ('Household words, government sums', 7 November) . . . she would be 'devastated' to lose her Child Benefit. She has so little money left once her husband has paid for 'a desirable four-bedroomed house. . . numerous pen- sion and insurance policies and . . . two children at private schools'. All her friends, apparently, are in the same boat.
Here, in all its glory, is the authentic sound of middle-class snobbery and cupid- ity. Blinded by their need to maintain standards and their distasteful assumption that they are, by right, entitled to pri- vileges denied to others, Caroline and her chums fail to see that there is a simple solution to their problems: live in a smaller house and send your children to the schools which the state provides — free, gratis and• for nothing — for their educa- tion. All of a sudden there will be plenty of money for 'living our lives now'.
Why on earth should the taxes of ordin- ary people be used to subsidise the life- styles of the middle classes? Like Caro- line's husband I, too, am well aware of the drain on one's income of 'mortgages and planning for the future'. But I do not expect the Government to bail me out if my social ambitions exceed my ability to pay for them.
David Thomas
11 Crookham Road, London SW6
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