"The best of times"; Labour's legacy

Yesterday's budget and the budget from 2000/01 are depicted below. The figures show that in 2000/01 social welfare made up 34.6 percent of government spending. After nine years that have been described as "the best of times" social welfare spending now accounts for 32.3 percent. Labour's three terms will be forever characterised in my mind as a negligent, colossal, wasted opportunity to pare welfare back to being what its political forbears intended - a safety net.