As the Social Attitudes Survey reveals softening views on welfare, is Britain moving to the Left?

YES Anton Howes After 30 years of falling out of love with state welfare, the British public seems to be changing its mind. According to the latest British Social Attitudes Survey, the number believing it is the government's responsibility to provide a decent standard of living for the unemployed rose from 50 per cent in 2006 to 59 per cent today. This suggests, on the face of it, a trend towards a more left wing stance on unemployment benefits. The trend looks to be more complex, however. The number who think generous unemployment benefits can damage a recipients's ability to "stand on their own two feet" is not far off its all-time peak of 55 per cent. What does this mean? The public appears to be returning to the views of that radical classical liberal, Margaret Thatcher: they increasingly share the left-wing opinion that unemployment is "a human tragedy," and one to which it is "the bounden duty of government to seek a real and lasting cure". But they may also still agree that the cure is not necessarily more state welfare. Anton Howes is director of the Liberty League.