Frank Field, the MP and member of the Church of England's General Synod, was appointed to "think the unthinkable" on welfare reform when Tony Blair's government came into office. But barely more than a year later, Frank Field returned to the back benches, and changes to the British welfare system are progressing along less radical lines.
Writing in the monthly newspaper of the Diocese of London, Frank Field questions whether current policy on overhauling welfare payments is being conducted on a Christian basis. He believes that the behaviour of individuals is affected strongly by the manner in which state benefits are made available, so it is important that the single biggest government budget should be used to encourage core values that are essential for the long term flourishing of society as a whole. He identifies those values as the importance of work, the encouragement of saving, and the reward of honesty.
Recent governments have pursued a policy of means tested benefits as a way of targeting help on the poorest and those most in need. But according to Mr Field this policy has the effect of increasing the numbers of people who claim benefits.
"Means tests," he explains, "because they penalise those who work, save and tell the truth, are a major determinant of a growing welfare dependency. The Labour party's rethink on welfare - undertaken in opposition - was based very much a Christian understanding of mankind . . . although nobody spoke of it in such terms."
The Christian view of the world is one of fallen creatures with a hope of redemption, rather than seeing people as basically good "with a little bit of original sin sprinkled on the top for interest." Frank Field argues that this means welfare should not be "handed out without a second thought", but used to affect people's behaviour.
Where benefits are not linked to social welfare contributions, or where savings reduce entitlement to benefits, people will not bother to contribute or save, he claims. Indeed, they may actually be encouraged to leave the work force early rather than struggle on.
"At some stage," the Birkenhead MP says, "the government will have to come back and propose welfare reforms which work with the grain of human nature rather than against it."
Item from: London Link