It was widely thought that welfare reform would be one of the victims of the downturn. But interestingly, the political case for it—as opposed to the practicality of actually doing it—seems almost easier to make at a time when everyone is tightening their belts. Certainly, Purnell’s proposals faced less opposition from the left than one would have expected.
Peter Oborne’s essay in the Mail today shows part of the reason why this is the case: those who have decided to live on benefits have total ‘job’ security even during a recession in which a million people are expected to lose theirs. The unfairness of this is compounded by how much some people are receiving from the state. To quote Oborne:
“As the Daily Mail revealed yesterday, an amazing 140,000 households collect more from the benefit system than they would if they earned the national average wage. Each of these families receives state handouts worth £20,000 a year, or even more.
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