Why Labour SHOULD be ‘the party of welfare’

Great piece by Bernadette Meaden defending the welfare state and Labour as its party by pointing out the obvious: the welfare state exists not to support skivers, but because there is a genuine need for it. She also points out that the people receiving welfare benefits are not some different, exotic species from ‘hardworking people’. Indeed not. Under the Tories, increasingly they’re one and the same.

Mike Sivier's blog

[Image: Redpepper] What follows is intelligent, adroit and not mine. It was written by Bernadette Meaden on the Ekklesia website and passed on to me by a mutual friend.

It constitutes what I think may be a complete answer and refutation of ‘accusations’ that the Labour Party is the so-called ‘party of welfare’. Tories love to bandy this about as though it is an insult. What they don’t tell you is that their alternative is abject poverty for all but an elite few.

I’m jumping ahead of myself. Here’s what Bernadette had to say:

“Conservative MPs frequently say that the Conservatives are the party of ‘hardworking people’, and the Labour Party is ‘the party of welfare’. It’s said as an accusation, an insult, and many Labour MPs take it as such, attempting to deny the charge as if it’s something to be ashamed of.

I would like to see Labour…

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