Opinion shifts on welfare bill

EVER since the founding of the welfare state, there has been a consensus between public and politicians which accepted that, even though the cost was steadily rising, the poorest in society had to be protected.

It was the responsibility of government to provide for those who had no other income and the mass public support for this belief meant that, for decades, any attempted reforms were tentative and piecemeal even when it became clear that the spiralling cost of welfare would ultimately prove unsustainable and self-defeating.

In the end, however, it seems that it took an unprecedented crisis in the public finances to shock the nation into the reality of the situation. Certainly this is the impression given by the latest British Social Attitudes survey.

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This shows a remarkable contrast in this region between the 29 per cent of people who believed in 1986 that unemployment benefits were so high that they discouraged people from working and the 54 per cent who now hold this opinion, a hardening of attitudes that has been replicated across the UK.

It is fortuitous indeed that this shift in opinion coincided with the arrival in office of a politician who has thought more deeply about welfare reform than almost any of his predecessors.

Not only was Iain Duncan Smith knocking on an open door when it came to public opinion, but he has surely helped to shape opinion further by emphasising not the financial cost of welfare but its human cost.

By showing the waste of human potential in the number of people effectively being paid not to accept employment, the Work and Pensions Secretary has opened the eyes of many to the extent to which the welfare state has strayed from its original conception.

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It remains to be seen, however, how long-lasting this shift in opinion will be. An economic recovery is now under way, the toughest calls in the area of welfare reform have been made and the most recent survey findings show a softening of the belief that benefit payments are too high.

Of course there is always more money that can be shaved from the welfare bill. But cuts for cuts’ sake, unaccompanied by further meaningful reform, may lack the public support that has been crucial to the work accomplished so far.

Growing pains

GEORGE OSBORNE’S urge to crow over the economic recovery is understandable. For the past three years the Chancellor has been attacked from all sides, told that his austerity programme was prolonging the recession and urged to adopt a Plan B.

Now, with growth increasing at an ever more rapid pace and economists predicting this will continue over the long term, the temptation for Mr Osborne to lord it over his critics must be overwhelming.

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The Chancellor should be careful, however, to avoid any undue complacency. It is one thing to ridicule Labour, as Mr Osborne did yesterday, for having no discernible economic policy now that its anti-austerity platform has been kicked away. But it would be quite another to claim that Britain has turned a corner and that only prosperity lies ahead.

There is, after all, the continuing problem of Britain’s budget deficit which, for all his many cutbacks, Mr Osborne has reduced only marginally and which will remain a millstone around taxpayers’ necks for generations to come.

Nor can the Chancellor claim triumph when, for many people, household finances are proving as stubbornly resistant to recovery as their public equivalent.

As Mr Osborne acknowledges, although economic activity is increasing, there is as yet no real increase in people’s standard of living. For many households, incomes remain lower in real terms than they were before the start of the downturn. In such circumstances, few people will feel in the mood for joining the Chancellor’s celebrations.

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Until the recovery benefits those who are most in need of it, gratitude to the Government will remain thin on the ground. This is why Mr Osborne must resist any triumphalism and instead concentrate on making good his commitment to ensure that everyone, including the least well-off, benefit from the return of economic growth.

After all, as Mr Osborne should need no reminding, we are all in this together.

Sweet success

AN UNDISTINGUISHED house in a Batley terrace received long-delayed recognition yesterday with the addition of a White Rose plaque to indicate that this was where the first Fox’s biscuit was baked in 1853.

Fox’s is a Yorkshire success story that too often goes unsung. Yet it has grown into a global business while still remaining part of the fabric of the West Riding town where it was born. Indeed, it is typical of the company’s strong links with its local area that the house in Whitaker Street is the home of a former Fox’s worker.

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The plaque is not only a long overdue honour for Fox’s, however, it is also the first in what is hoped will be a series of Yorkshire Society plaques commemorating the often humble origins of the county’s greatest and longest-lasting businesses, beginning with the sweet smell of success that has pervaded Batley for 160 years.