Wel-feral State

Dominic Lawson’s term for “the domestic chaos and moral squalour financed and even encouraged by a mixture of the studiously nonjudgmental welfare state and what used to be called ‘the permissive society.’”

Writing in The Times of London on the tragic death of Baby P, Lawson said:

The “family” that did for P is a classic of the genre. The mother had been on benefits for her entire adult life and apparently spent much of her days absorbed by pornographic dating Web sites. The so-called “stepfather” was also on benefits: the outlet for his otherwise unexpended energy was, as we now know, “training” – that is to say, torturing – his “stepson.” The other assailant, described rather euphemistically as “the lodger,” shared a room in the same council house with a 15-year-old girl. …

We need a new term for this human zoo: welcome to the wel-feral state.