Britain: Labour government proposes punitive welfare reforms

Its aim is threefold. Firstly, to dismantle the social security system by making a much reduced entitlement to welfare dependent upon cooperation with back to work schemes. Secondly, to redistribute wealth in favour of the owners of capital, via the creation of a huge pool of workers forced to take the lowest paid and most unpleasant jobs. And, thirdly, to privatise the employment services.

The government has openly admitted that the welfare state is to be redesigned to serve the needs of big business. Introducing the bill, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton, said the welfare state “must help UK companies succeed in the global economy.”

The “best welfare policy of all is work,” he continued, and the welfare state must help those unable to work and to support people gaining the skills required to get jobs.

The bill follows a raft of measures introduced since New Labour came to power in 1997, including the “New Deal” programme aimed at forcing the unemployed—especially the young—off welfare benefits and the National Minimum Wage and tax credits for the low paid. These have done much to create a “flexible labour market” for Britain’s service sector and low wage subventions for the corporations.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/welf-a24.shtml