Britain May Tax Middle-Class Benefits

Britain’s Labor government is looking into taxing middle-class welfare benefits, the London Times reported today. The controversial proposals have been drawn up in response to Prime Minister Tony Blair’s order to ministers “to think the unthinkable” in order to cut Britain’s ballooning welfare budget--$165.9 billion a year. “The aim of the proposals would be to limit the role of the welfare state to that of a safety net for the poorest groups with others being required to make greater provision for their health and care costs,” the Times reported. Blair has already angered middle-class voters who helped him to a landslide general election victory on May 1 by proposing that university students who belong to better-off families pay part of their tuition fees.