Labour pains over welfare

Her challenge is a formidable one. It was Labour, after all, that founded the Welfare State and the party remains embedded in the working communities of the North where its support is still 
rock solid.

Yet, if Ed Miliband is to become Prime Minister, the payment of benefits to working-age people needs to become the last resort.

Like Mr Miliband committing himself on Sunday to Tory plans to reduce the deficit, much of yesterday’s speech by Ms Reeves was a vindication of the “make work pay” approach already being undertaken by her opposite number Iain Duncan Smith and continuity will be essential after the 2015 election.

There were subtle changes of emphasis – Labour is more supportive of a “living wage” than the Tories, for example – but Ms Reeves signalled a desire to strip benefits from unemployed people who lack basic English, maths and computing skills unless they take up training.

Two points, however, need to be made. First, will Labour legislate so this no-nonsense approach is enforceable by law?

Second, it was significant that Ms Reeves did not put a greater onus on schools and colleges in her speech to equip the less academic students with the key skills that they will require throughout the adult lives.

If more school leavers can read and write, the time and money spent by them – and the Department of Work and Pensions – finding suitable work is likely to become less daunting and more rewarding.

Conversely, the Conservative Party needs to prove that it is the party of the North if the Tories are to make the necessary electoral gains in Labour’s heartlands. It will not be easy, judging by those backbench MPs who want a two-tier minimum wage to reflect the increased cost of living in London and the South East.

Significantly, Chancellor George Osborne appears to be resisting these overtures – the impact of unemployment on any individual must not be under-estimated – but this is an unhelpful diversion at a time when many are still to be convinced that the Conservatives sufficiently understand the social and economic challenges still confronting those northern regions, like Yorkshire, that have yet to feel the benefits of the recovery which is now gathering pace, according to the International Monetary Fund.

High-speed hiatus

THAT nearly 60 per cent of Yorkshire businesses are opposed to HS2, the conclusion of a major survey undertaken by commercial law firm Nabarro, offers a sharp reminder – if one was needed – that many people are still to be convinced about the wider merits of high-speed rail.

Given that it is business leaders who have been more supportive of a super-fast railway linking England’s major cities than other rail users who want more investment in rush-hour services, this is another prompt to Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, that the HS2 debate is still to be won.

The Minister is aware of this. After initially suggesting that the primary benefit of HS2 was to cut journey times from Leeds and Sheffield to London, the Department for Transport now recognises that the construction of a major new railway line – the first to be built north of Watford in more than a century – is critical to increasing infrastructure on existing routes.

Future generations are unlikely to thank today’s policy-makers in 50 years time if the railways grind to a half because short-term considerations were put before the long-term good of the country and wider transport policy.

That said, it would be misguided of Mr McLoughlin’s department to assume Yorkshire businesses and taxpayers will be assuaged by the construction of new stations in Leeds and Sheffield. Quite the opposite. For the Government will only begin to win over hearts and minds if it can show how the whole region will benefit from HS2, and how costs will be kept under control.

A true meaning

IF words like bravery and courage had not become devalued by their over-use in everyday language, there might be a better appreciation of those people whose actions embody the meaning of these words.

Bravery is not a well-paid footballer limping on with a slight muscle twinge. It is, however, a soldier like Captain Ibrar Ali, who lost an arm while serving with the Yorkshire Regiment in Iraq.

Courage is not a rearguard action by a struggling football side. It is, however, the decision by the former Army captain and a team of amputees to trek to the South Pole, defying frostbite, to support Prince Harry’s Walking With The Wounded charity.

The Prince will appreciate this sentiment. He shared a tent with Capt Ali as the group conquered Antarctica and appreciates the physical and mental torture endured by those soldiers who have lost limbs in Iraq or Afghanistan, fine individuals whose stoicism and steadfastness personifies courage and bravery.