Byrne offers ‘something for something’ — but what does it mean?

What’s this? Seems like Liam Byrne has emerged from his policy review with an idea. He calls it, in an article for the Guardian today, ‘something for something’:

‘…“something for something” means reward for those who are desperately trying to do the right thing, saving for the future and trying to build a stable, secure home. Right now, these families are offered too little reward and incentive — in social housing and long-term savings — for the kind of behaviour that is the bedrock of a decent society.’

In truth, it’s not a new or surprising idea at all. Labour’s brain-in-exile, James Purnell, urged this sort of thinking on his party in a speech last April, which I blogged at the time — although he called it the ‘contributory principle’, and he spelt it out more effectively than Byrne does today. And it just so happens to be one of the few areas of welfare policy where Labour can offer something slightly different from the government.