Comment from The Northern Echo - Strong case for welfare reform

Critics automatically assume such reforms will equate to cuts in benefits payments.

If the Government's sole intention was to cut the welfare budget by indiscriminately taking money away from the sick and the disabled, then we would join in the condemnation.

However, we do not believe the motives are so sinister and so crass.

We urge the Government at all times to stick to the principle that those vulnerable people in our society in genuine need of support will continue to receive that support.

Nevertheless we can still see a legitimate case for reform of the existing framework.

The current arrangements, where people are paid incapacity benefit for years without any means of checking or examining the individuals, can not be justified.

Surely, the Government has a right and a duty to examine whether billions of pounds of taxpayers' money is being spent properly and efficiently.

And while we do not doubt that one of the motives of the Government is to save money, genuine cases of incapacity will have nothing to fear from medical tests carried out every three years or so.

Such examinations are also in the interests of those on benefits.

After all we live in more inclusive times where employers discriminate less and less against the disabled. There is more inclusiveness today than when the existing benefits guidelines were laid down.

Improved working environments and falling unemployment figures are enhancing job opportunities for the disabled.

But too often the current framework virtually condemns disabled people to a lifetime of isolation, and provides no incentive for them to break free from the welfare state into employment.

The reforms will encourage the disabled to take advantage of the opportunities on offer to them in the modern world.

Rather then be seen negatively as an attempt to reduce the burden of benefits, they should be seen as a positive attempt to free the disabled from discrimination.