Britain: Conservative Party feigns concern for the poor—the better to oppose welfare

The SJPG report is intended to present the “compassionate” side of the Conservatives so as to distance the party from the Thatcher era, which led to a dramatic decline in its electoral fortunes and from which it has been attempting to recover ever since. To this end, the document is filled with references to the reforming zeal of the Conservative Party, stating, “It is the party of Shaftesbury, the defender of poor children of the factories, the friend of the homeless and the founder of the Ragged Schools.”

References to the Victorian era and charitable institutions such as the Ragged Schools are indicative of the political approach to social policy that the party is offering in the twenty-first century.

In a statement, Duncan Smith also doffed his cap to One Nation Toryism, empathizing with the many families for whom “life is getting worse.” On virtually all indices of social deprivation, Britain comes out top in Western Europe—the highest rates of poverty, indebtedness, teenage pregnancy and alcohol and drug abuse, all of which are detailed in the report.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/brit-d23.shtml