Member of Parliament for North Ayrshire and Arran Katy Clark has defended universal child benefit currently paid to all parents of children under the age 16 in the United Kingdom. Currently all parents are paid a tax free amount of £20.00 per week for their eldest child under child benefit and £13.20 for any additional children. There have however been suggestions by various politicians and media commentators that the benefit could either be taxed or means-tested in the future something which the local MP strongly opposes.
Speaking on the subject Ms. Clark said “Child Benefit provides essential support for parents across the entire United Kingdom. Its introduction and expansion has been one of the strongest lasting achievements of Labour Government’s.”
“I believe that to tax or means-test the benefit would be a huge step in the wrong direction particularly with many families facing difficult times as a result of the current economic crisis. Means tested benefits often have a poor record of reaching the people that they are targeted to help and I will strongly oppose any proposal by anyone to make this change to Child Benefit. Instead of this we should be looking at ways to increase the current levels to help those bringing up children.”