The crusade against out-relief: a nudge from history.

摘要

The UK's Coalition Government has begun a series of reforms of the welfare state to tackle the annual deficit at a time of recession. Yet, the language and policy aims seem at times re-animated ideas from the end of the 19th century. From the 1870s until the end of the 19th century, the Conservative Party came to dominate English politics. Benjamin Disraeli's fame as Conservative Prime Minister in the 1870s is well documented, but it was Robert Cecil, Third Marquess of Salisbury (Lord Cranbourne), who prevailed over the opposition in the final two decades of the 19th century. He was one of Britain's longest-serving Prime Ministers, but is best remembered for inaction and halting welfare reform.