very same the party been spouting since entering Number 10 two years ago to set about implementing the vast experiment in human despair it has the gall to describe as an economic policy. The disconnect between the fantasy world of a society of sporting heroes portrayed on our TV screens and covering the front and back pages of the nation's newspapers these past two weeks and the reality of the misery and despair which daily engulfs the lives of more and more people was made stark at the High Court last week. There Cat Reilly and Jamieson Wilson, both from Birmingham, learned from Mr Justice Foskett that workfare - the scheme whereby people claiming jobseeker's allowance (JSA) are compelled to work in return for their benefits - is not a violation of the litigants' human rights and does not constitute slave labour. The importance of this decision was overshadowed by the Olympics but cannot be overstated. It affects tens of thousands of people up and down the country, currently working for their benefits in charity shops, supermarkets and other assorted workplaces, where they are typically engaged in menial tasks designed to acquaint or reacquaint them with the world of work regardless of their age, qualifications, and/or career goals. The controversy surrounding the scheme, highlighted by campaigners earlier this year, has forced some businesses to back out, fearing the bad publicity that has come to be associated with it. Though trumpeted as providing invaluable work experience to the long-term unemployed, the