After a political 'honeymoon' that looked as if it would go on and on, Tony Blair's authority over his government is facing its biggest challenge with the project to reform the welfare state.
Predictably, the problems of dissent have been internal to the Labour Party. But with his popularity still at unprecedented levels and with an unassailable parliamentary majority, the Prime Minister knows the best time to take unpopular decisions is now, at the beginning of a five-year term of office. Reacting to his critics, Mr Blair admitted that 'change is always hard'. But he said: 'The system isn't working and we have got to reform it.'
On present trends, the annual welfare budget in Britain is set to break the £100 billion barrier. The reply of Tony Blair to his critics is that more is spent by the government on benefit than is spent on schools, hospitals and the police put together. By tackling the expanding bill for welfare, he hopes that money will be released to tackle the causes of poverty and get people to work. But his goal is not simply one of cutting back on spending. The momentum for reform reflects a project that transcends these short-term concerns. It marks a shift in the political debate that should excite evangelicals and challenge us to careful reflection on the business of government.
