Mr Howells’ article on Labour Uncut attacks the Coalition government for cutting EMA. Here, I argue against him.
The 1942 Beveridge Report outlined five ‘Giant Evils’: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease. The real enemy of social mobility, to which the Report alludes, is idleness. EMA promoted idleness – the detestable enemy of aspiration.
To Mr Howells I respond that I believe the cutting of EMA is one of the Coalition’s best polices (perhaps its only good policy). His article reflects a middle-class, neo-liberal approach to social mobility which, although its outlook sincere, little reflects reality.
It seems the majority of students receiving EMA would spend it on driving lessons, video games or other non-educational pursuits. Continue reading →