The legacy left to an incoming Labour government after 14 years of Tory rule is akin to a hated relative leaving a flooding basement and 12 parakeets in a will. It’s not an inheritance anyone would want. Few briefs exemplify this more than work and pensions. Britain’s safety net has been systematically shredded, and its public is poorer and sicker than before the Conservatives came to power. At this point, it feels as though the welfare state has been replaced with food banks.
Here’s the good news. If the benefits system has been used to cause misery and hardship in recent years, that means it can also be utilised to bring about real good. If I were to wake up as a Labour shadow minister tomorrow, I’d pick these three priorities.
