Are Labour's welfare cuts the way to go?
The British government has announced massive cuts to welfare with a view to reducing spiralling government spending on benefits for people with long-term illnesses and limited working capacity, and also increasing incentives to work. The national press voices both understanding and harsh criticism.
Make work worthwhile again
It's high time to cut back the welfare state, writes The Daily Telegraph:
“Everyone knows that large numbers are living on benefits because they provide enough money to make working in a low-paid job make little sense. ... Half a century of rampant welfarism has had enormous consequences, both societal by creating a sense of entitlement that allows generations to live without working, and economic. The main reason why we have run an almost permanent deficit since the 1960s has been the explosion of entitlements following the break with the something-for-something contributory principle.”
Betraying the most vulnerable
The fact that Labour has chosen to call itself "the party of work" rather than the "party of workers" in the context of its proposed social welfare cuts points to a worrying shift, The Guardian observes:
“Labour was never merely a party that supported people in work. It was a party of workers - an important distinction. ... To be the party of work, on the other hand, is to endorse a different worldview: one where economic productivity is an end in itself, where a person's worth is measured by their output, where those who cannot work - through disability, ill health or old age - are considered burdens rather than individuals with rights. This is the logic in which Labour now finds itself entangled, justifying benefit cuts as fiscal discipline and balancing the books on the backs of sick and disabled people.”