Iain Duncan Smith assesses the government’s welfare record

When the Conservatives returned to power in 2010, in coalition with the Lib Dems, lifting people out of poverty was one of their signature policies. It would be hard to say that now. Theresa May has shown more interest in devoting time and energy to the ‘just about managing’ classes further up the socio-economic spectrum. Iain Duncan Smith, who as work and pensions secretary set the poverty agenda, is no longer a minister – while Brexit has come to dominate the agenda of a weakened government.

So what was achieved during what looks like a brief flirtation with social justice – and what, if anything, happens now? The most obvious achievement, Iain Duncan Smith told a Spectator event, held in association with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is the increase in employment over the past seven years. There are now 2 million more people in work than there were in 2010. People who have become subject to the benefit cap (which for a couple is £23,000 in London; and £20,000 outside) are 42 per cent more likely to be in work now than they were in 2010 – suggesting that this element of the reforms has succeeded in incentivising the search for employment.

The main instrument of the Conservatives’ welfare reforms, however, has been Universal Credit.