Very cogent article by Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times about public attitudes to the welfare state.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/df218f48-9d3c-11e2-a8db-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Pc7hh5gt
For the record, I completely support the idea in principle of the welfare state.
And I am also deeply mistrustful of the Financial Times, which is a libertarian publication more than a conservative one (libertarians are not conservatives, still less Conservatives although libertarians may vote Conservative in the same way that Marxists might vote Labour).
However it is the last paragraph of Janan Ganesh's article that should cause most concern to the Labour party: "The welfare state is shrinking because the public do not believe in it very much..."
Labour (under Wilson, Callaghan, Blair and Brown, and especially under Labour councils throughout the country) has so corrupted the welfare system by manipulating who gets benefits that most people no longer think the welfare state is relevant to them or will help them if they are in need.
This should bother all of us, but it should especially bother Labour.
They need to start asking themselves why the public no longer believe in welfare.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/df218f48-9d3c-11e2-a8db-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Pc7hh5gt
For the record, I completely support the idea in principle of the welfare state.
And I am also deeply mistrustful of the Financial Times, which is a libertarian publication more than a conservative one (libertarians are not conservatives, still less Conservatives although libertarians may vote Conservative in the same way that Marxists might vote Labour).
However it is the last paragraph of Janan Ganesh's article that should cause most concern to the Labour party: "The welfare state is shrinking because the public do not believe in it very much..."
Labour (under Wilson, Callaghan, Blair and Brown, and especially under Labour councils throughout the country) has so corrupted the welfare system by manipulating who gets benefits that most people no longer think the welfare state is relevant to them or will help them if they are in need.
This should bother all of us, but it should especially bother Labour.
They need to start asking themselves why the public no longer believe in welfare.
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