If these are tough times, they are also times for tough love. On Wednesday James Purnell, the work and pensions secretary, unveiled his long-awaited white paper on welfare reform, announcing a radical overhaul of the benefits system in Britain to come into effect in 2010. Under the government’s plans, virtually all benefits will require claimants to do something in return, with income support for single parents being abolished. Only the parents of babies under one and the severely disabled will be exempted from having to seek or prepare for work.

Some critics will find it easy to cast the government as needlessly punitive, particularly if the economy does not quickly climb out of recession. Yet the government’s proposed reforms are not aimed at drawing the safety net from under those who need it. Rather they are aimed at repairing a system under strain and transforming the culture of welfare.