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Welfare Reform and Incapacity Benefit

I agree with that. I pay tribute to the work of the right hon. Gentleman in those campaigns and the good progress that has been made, with many people in all political parties sharing the same ideal and objective. However, today’s debate is about a slightly different issue: the fact that in the past few years, the progress that was made has slowed down and, in some cases, has not been delivered. The policy over which the Secretary of State has been asked to preside has so far failed. I accept that that is a serious charge, but there are pretty important witnesses for the prosecution. The right hon. Member for Birkenhead, a senior Labour Back Bencher and former Minister, said:"““The Government has lost the plot on welfare reform””." If the Secretary of State wants the view of someone who has occupied his own post, I suggest that of his immediate predecessor, the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside, who admitted that the system over which he presided was, to use his own delicate word, ““crackers””. If those are simply the views of ex-Ministers and the Secretary of State will be influenced only by those of his current colleagues, he need look no further than the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, the right hon. Member for Barking—[Laughter.] I emphasise that that is a pure coincidence. She said in her own unforgettable words when referring to the welfare system no more recently than 1 November, as quoted in The Herald in Glasgow:"““So far, we have done sweet nothing.””" If that is the view of the Minister, we on the Conservative Benches can be forgiven for endorsing her objective assessment of the Government’s record so far. I conclude with a tribute to the Prime Minister, who has put his commitment to welfare reform clearly on the line. He said way back in 1996 at a Labour party conference before he became Prime Minister:"““By the end of a five-year term of a Labour Government””—" that would have been 2002, three years ago—"““I vow””—" not I promise or I hope or I aspire—"““that we will have reduced the proportion we spend on the welfare bills of social failure . . . This is my covenant with the British people. Judge me upon it. The buck stops with me””." On that basis, we invite the House to approve the motion and to condemn the Government’s abysmal failure.