Tony Blair Destroyed Britain's Faith In The Benefits System, Claim Researchers

[Ken Burch]

Last edited Fri Dec 23, 2016, 01:27 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.welfareweekly.com/tony-blair-destroyed-britains-faith-benefits-system-claim-researchers/

According to research published today from the University of Bristol, public attitude toward unemployed people began to harden after Tony Blair announced the New Deal programme for jobseekers in 1999, declaring welfare should be a “hand up, not a hand down”.

Before this time negative comments against the welfare state by a Labour leader would have been regarded as unthinkable, and perhaps unLabour-like. Tony Blair’s took Labour to the right under the guise of ‘New Labour’ and the rest,.. as they say, is history.

Researchers claim that during the 1980’s and most of the 1990’s the majority of people believed that benefit payments were too low, causing severe hardship among the poorest in society, and should be increased.

However, after 1999 a growing number of people adopted the view that benefits were too generous and should be cut. It was around this time that a resurgence in the derogatory ‘scrounger’ rhetoric, more akin to Dickensian Britain, began to resurface and has continued ever-since.

[LeftishBrit]

1. I think probably more the other way round...

Blair hardened his attitudes to benefits to appease a section of the voters, who in turn were influenced by the RW media. People in this country are far more influenced by the media than by politicians.

The RW media, though it runs hate campaigns against both immigrants/ foreigners and benefit claimants, tends to alternate with time as to which group it emphasizes. Over the 15 years prior to the announcement of the referendum, it emphasized the benefit claimants more; now it's back to demonizing immigrants and foreigners, and those who are too soft on them, like openly gay ex-Olympic fencer High Court Judges!

[Bad Dog]

2. Blair introduced tax credits, the minimum wage and Educational Maintenance Allowance.

And he invested in the NHS and Education. Hardly the actions of someone trying to demonise the poor.

[Ken Burch]

3. ...Yet, he embraced the Tory notion that being on benefit is, in some way, shameful...

...that most people on benefit could be working but "just don't want to"...and denied the reality that the vast majority of people out of work are either truly disabled or the victims of capitalism.

And he has said nothing whatsoever critical about Cameron's barbaric sanction program for people on benefit.

It's as though he actually believes that wealth is proof of personal superiority, rather than what it usually is...a combination of circumstance of birth and luck.

[Bad Dog]

4. You say that,

but do you have a quotation to actually back it up?