In the bleak welfare winter, there are some glimmers of hope…

Welfare has barely been out of the headlines of late. The last few weeks alone have seen the Jobseekers Bill, the Bedroom Tax and most recently the trial of the Philpotts (cynically leapt on by the anti-welfare brigade as yet another example of our “broken” welfare system).

There has equally been plenty of discussion about how Labour should respond to these debates. Some say tell people the facts. The facts will win the day. Others say lets just keep quiet, ignore it, talk about something else. Yet others still think it’s all over, we might as well give up, the right has won the debate. All we can do is be just as tough.

Or tougher.

In truth, Labour’s response to date has been at best varied and at worst well…the shambles over the Jobseekers Bill is a case in point. But to be fair, it is easy to see where this comes from. Public opinion on welfare is clearly hardening (a recent survey into public attitudes showed only 28% of people want to see more spending on welfare, down from 58% in 1991). Welfare is unpopular. And the right know this and they will continue to talk about it, not least because they smell Labour’s weakness. So we cannot ignore it and we have to find an alternative way into the debate.

And this will not be easy. Despite all the coverage of the bedroom tax, more people still supported the principle than opposed it. But it is both interesting and instructive that the Government felt the need to respond on the bedroom tax by offering some concessions. There are lessons to be learnt here as to why they felt under pressure and where they think their weaknesses are.

The recent furore around Iain Duncan Smith’s claim that he could live on £53 per week (at last check the petition had hit over 400,000 signatures) also offers cause for some limited optimism. People might not like welfare claimants but neither do they like rich ministers pretending to understand poverty. Nor, come to that, do they like the idea of people living in poverty when they think about what that actually means.

The truth is the majority of people hold deeply conflicting views about welfare. They think the welfare state fosters dependency but they also value the fact that we have a safety net there for people who need it. They’re just not quite sure the net is catching the right people.

Labour needs to acknowledge and address these concerns but not reinforce them. (It is not helpful to talk about strivers – it only reminds people of skivers). Labour instead should talk about the wider reasons, structural and otherwise, why people claim benefits – high living costs and rents, low wages, bad luck. People understand these things. They can relate to them. We need to talk about them.

I am not saying any of this is easy. It is not. It is going to be very very tough. But as a party it is something we have to do. I think there is still an argument to be had and one that is too important for Labour to walk away from. But the longer we continue to flounder when talking about welfare, the harder it will be to find our way back into the debate.