Why Add Restructuring to Cutbacks? Explaining the New Policy Direction

Abstract

The new policies involve real political, social and economic risks. One explanation rests on short-term party-political considerations, another on an economics that prioritises deficit reduction against any other goal. Neither is convincing. Britain has moved from a European to a US pattern of social inequalities during the past 30 years, due to changes in work, in patterns of residence and in the overall power of capital against labour. These shifts combine with currents in public opinion and in mass politics that strengthen social divisions and erode support for inclusive welfare. They provide the opportunity for government to move decisively against the welfare state tradition and to entrench a radical, competitive and individualistic liberalism permanently in the national political economy.