Osborne and IDS promise a ‘better deal’ for working families. But a better deal is not necessarily a good deal

As Fraser says, the welfare changes, cuts to legal aid and so forth, which have come into force today, have got a universal thumbs-down in the left-wing press.

I expect that the barrage of negative headlines will please No.10 (you cannot make an omelette etc.). It also has the comfort of knowing that the public is broadly in favour of reform. But the government might be disgruntled at the comparatively muted reaction of the right-wing press.

The Telegraph’s coverage is intriguing. It concentrates on the Tories’ clash with the church over benefit cuts, which was mentioned by Christian Guy in a post yesterday. There is also some coverage of Grant Shapps’s attempt to de-stigmatise the ‘bedroom tax’: he says that his children share a bedroom because its common sense.

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But the paper also carries a report titled ‘Middle class workers bear brunt of cuts’.