Blame the unemployed for unemployment. This is the basic principle behind New Labour’s proposals to reform welfare benefits. Failure to find employment is no longer the result of labour market conditions or health barriers to work, but rather a motivational failure on the part of the unemployed. If they have their way, New Labour will preside over the dismantling of the welfare state, which has existed in a recognisable form since the reforms which came out of the Beveridge report.