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Just over a week ago tens of thousands of people marched in London against further austerity. Undeterred, on the following day George Osborne and Ian Duncan Smith pledged to press on with welfare cuts, including further reductions of the so-called ‘benefit cap’ and in-work benefits for the lowest paid. On the next day the Prime Minister set out his case for the plans for £12bn of further benefits cuts, again highlighting in-work benefits and suggesting that his policies would increase opportunity and help to raise wages. In a remarkable feat of doublespeak David Cameron presented this as part of a ‘one nation’ strategy.
Since the general election the Labour Party has lamented the mistakes it made in the campaign, with several high profile figures suggesting that the party needs once again to re-focus its efforts – á la New Labour – on appealing to a politics of aspiration. Two of the front-runners in the leadership election – Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper – have been distinctly coy about the extent to which they would oppose further benefit cuts.
