That the British welfare state needs some fundamental modification seems to be common ground across the political spectrum. The crucial question is how to make changes that carry consent. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in an article in The Guardian this week, appealed for cross-party consensus on what needed doing. But George Osborne has not understood that what stands in the way of the acceptance of more reforms is the widespread view that those implemented already have had a damaging effect on the lives of many ordinary people. People assailed by low pay and high housing costs are beginning to despair. Further welfare reform to them means only one thing – deeper poverty. This is not only the Chancellor’s fault but also that of his Cabinet colleague, the Work and Pensions S