Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The welfare Perestroika

What to make of James Purnell’s reforms? When I heard Neal Lawson from Compass on the radio this morning debating IDS, I thought that Purnell will be delighted: is this the toughest opposition he can get? The Campaign Group of socialist Labour MPs would always oppose him. In a way, it’s precisely what he wants. But what he may not be so please dabout is this statement just released from a group called America Works. It’s intended as a compliment, but there can be nothing more likely to get Labour backbenchers wound up:

“This green paper, based on Freud’s recommendations, demonstrates that the British government has finally come to accept the dramatic Clinton-style reforms that need to be made in order to achieve sustainable employment for individuals caught in the vicious cycles of worklessness. 

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