That sizeable jump in income will probably astonish its 1.5m recipients, if like the rest of the country they have understood so little of Labour's plans. To make sure the unemployed get the message, jobs in Job Centres will be advertised with the extra WFTC earnings added, so people with children can see at a glance on the noticeboards how much better off they would be working. Work, work, work, say the cynics. They haven't done too badly. But yes, the main emphasis is on getting people into jobs.
Work can make a lasting social difference.
For in Britain uniquely in Europe a disproportionate number of families with children are workless, four times more than in Germany despite its higher unemployment rate. It means two in five British children are born poor, one in six couples pushed into poverty by the birth of their first child. A blueprint is emerging for the extermination of poverty by educating, training and employing it out of existence. From womb to adulthood, schemes to catch potential fallers are designed to turn them into workers. From newborn babies to drug addicted young offenders, every step of the way Uncle Gordon stands there battling poverty with carrot and stick.