Sir, – I read that some Centra outlets have been admonished for a children’s allowance day promotion including alcohol and other products aimed at adults (Home News, July 4th). This is ludicrous. Since when has the State attempted to control how recipients spend their welfare payments? What do people think they get spent on? Welfare payments of all types are regularly spent on junk food, cigarettes and alcohol. If we were serious about addressing this, we would replace direct payments with a system of personalised vouchers redeemable for a controlled range of products.
The UK is making moves toward providing welfare payments in the form of credit on a voucher card, with the restriction that the card cannot be used for purchasing certain products, such as tobacco and alcohol, or for placing bets.
Until we do so, retailers seeking to capitalise on our spendthrift welfare system should be congratulated on their entrepreneurship. – Yours, etc,