Tories abandon welfare reform

Tory bloggers, including the Spectator's Coffee House, are in despair. Not only is Clarke back, but the appointment of Theresa May to shadow James Purnell is rightly seen as a sign that the Tories have not only sidelined NHS reform in a bid to appease the BMA, they have also given up on welfare room too. As James Forsyth notes:

Today’s reshuffle was a blow to the reform agenda. This morning, two of the three key public service jobs—education, welfare and health—were in the hands of committed reformers. Now, only education is.....Tory health policy has been subcontracted out to the British Medical Association. But on education and welfare there were signs of real boldness.... But the decision to replace Chris Grayling with Theresa May calls into question the Tory commitment to fixing Britain’s broken welfare system....thedecision to move May to this brief suggests that the Tories are now happy just to score cheap political points about Purnell’s desire to have single mothers prepare to enter the workforce.