by Peter Watt
If the economy is the central battleground of the next election then welfare reform looks like being one of the other key areas for the political combatants. The chancellor’s Autumn statement made it pretty clear that he intends to make it a key wedge issue over the coming years. And to make sure that we all got this, the Tories have released an online attack ad on the websites of local newspapers in marginal seats.
Click on the ad and you are asked your views on welfare reform by the Conservative party. Labour reacted with its own marginal seats campaign complete with outrage at the demonization of the poor and attempts to divide and rule between artificial notions of “strivers” and “scroungers”.
So both parties see the next election being about the cost of living; both see strategic weaknesses in the others approaches to those working on low to modest incomes and both now have drawn a line in the sand – the proposed below inflation 1% rise in most working age welfare benefits.
For the Tories this will help create a “welfare system based on fairness’” as the campaign leaflet to accompany their online ad makes clear:
