The IDS plan approaches consensus status

Plenty of attention for Nick Clegg’s listening, reading and smoking habits this morning, as well as his appearance on the Andrew Marr show. But it is another of Marr’s guests who has made perhaps the most important intervention of the day: the shadow work and pensions secretary, Douglas Alexander. Here’s how the Beeb website reports it:

“Mr Alexander also said he backed ‘in principle’ the coalition’s plan to replace all out-of-work benefits with a single ‘universal credit’ payment. He said such a move was ‘sensible’ but he would be ‘scrutinising’ the government ‘very carefully’ over its £2bn start-up costs.”

If true, then it leaves the the parties in a surprisingly similar position on welfare. Both Labour and the coalition would, broadly speaking, back the same benefit reforms. They would both support the expansion of workfare schemes. And even the battle over universal benefits has been tempered, although not called off, now that the coalition has decided not to cut Winter Fuel Allowance, bus passes and the like.