Welfare reforms are little more than a sticking plaster

Public opinion has hardened against benefit claimants. The Government's most popular policy is the £26,000-a-year cap on welfare payments for a family, in line with average earnings, which left Labour floundering. "There's almost nothing you can say that is too hardline for most voters," quips one Downing Street insider. So far, so good. Mr Osborne's problem is that he has already picked the low-hanging fruit. Benefits are already linked to the consumer prices index (CPI) rather than the retail prices index (RPI), which normally rises by almost 1 percentage point more. The freeze in most benefits the Chancellor is now floating is little more than a piece of sticking plaster. Mr...