I would argue that they get away with it because the yellow press “media” heavily plays into it. “Unfair that people get monies when the tax money could go into other, better things” – if you rile up the, frankly, pretty smooth-brained majority, as has happened multiple times over the last few years, it’s easy to get away with murder.
I just now realised that you actually said it yourself, so.. yeah, i agree. I disagree with rioting though, that wouldn’t make the problem go away or fix it. See every riot ever, where people afterwards are even more antagonistic towards the cause.
What we really need, imho, is an overhaul of the antiquated election system (FPTP), that by itself might already help enough. Once politicians have to fight for every vote, rather than “just enough votes”, stuff like this won’t be an issue anymore.
edit: or rather.. not that big an issue anymore, since they now are in a position where they could just push these changes through with no repercussions.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.