The New Statesman’s George Eaton has already homed in on the key passage from James Purnell’s article in the Times (£) today, but it’s worth repeating here. According to the former welfare minister, he pitched
something like Iain Duncan Smith’s Universal Credit to Gordon Brown, and the reception it received catalysed his departure from government:
This is of more than simple historical interest, not least because it suggests why both Labour and the coalition are where they are on welfare. There is now, as I suggested a few weeks ago, a broad consensus on welfare policy – and one that has only been strengthened by Brown’s decline onto the backbenches.“Before I resigned from the Cabinet, I proposed a similar plan to Mr Brown. But he was scared that there would be losers, and his refusal to give me any answer made me think that there was no point in staying inside the Government to try to influence him.”
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