51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Welfare reform white paper launch: Nick Clegg and Iain Duncan Smith speeches; Iain Duncan Smith speech SOT - For me, this programme represents much more than a Ministerial brief or initiative. My personal passion for welfare reform, and my desire to fight poverty within Government, has been driven by the stark reality of what I've encountered. As I travelled to many of Britain's poorest communities I concluded that tackling poverty had to be about much more than handing out money. It was bigger than that. I could see we were dealing with a part of society that had become detached from the rest of us. People who suffer high levels of family breakdown, educational failure, personal debt, addiction, and at the heart of all of this is intergenerational worklessness. Only in understanding this can poverty really be defeated. Let me explain why I believe the Coalition can be different. We recognise both the symptoms and the causes of poverty. We have Frank Field's review – let me here pay tribute to Frank, who is a good friend and has tireless in his efforts to fight poverty throughout his time in Parliament. We recognise there is no better shield from child poverty than strong and stable families. And we know that our poorest children should be inspired and equipped to secure a better future. And here I also want to thank Nick Clegg for his work championing this issue through Government. As a result of this work we have announced 7 billion pound of targeted early years support for two year olds, and the pupil premium to help the most disadvantaged school children, focussing on our money on those who need it most to get a chance of a fair start. We will help people out of debt and utilise the brilliance of the voluntary sector to move addicts into recovery. And, crucially, we will ensure that welfare works. To achieve all of this we need fundamental welfare reform. Some have said recently that it is jobs not reform which is important. But I think they miss the point...