DEBATE: Are welfare reforms the way forward for our country?

But the debate has been given a whole new impetus by coverage of the Mick Philpott trial and the claim that the tragedy gives an insight into how badly the welfare system has gone wrong in this country.

Who is right?

Is the Government’s welfare reform programme needed to reduce abuse of the system and stop money being wasted on trapping people in a benefits’ culture?

Or is it an attack on the poorest and most vulnerable in society from a Government getting more and more desperate to save money and hiding behind misleading rhetoric of shirkers v workers?

Here, Harriett Baldwin and Joy Squires give their opposing views and answer whether widespread welfare reform is needed in this country.

YES says Harriett Baldwin, Conservative MP for West Worcestershire

OUR welfare system is a very important safety net.

It is there to help people who lose their jobs; people who are unwell and cannot work and those who have reached retirement age.

We believe our society should have subsidised rental housing which is affordable for those on low or no income.

We want children to have the opportunity to grow up well fed, educated and housed.

In order to be able to afford this important safety net, it is vital that those who can work and pay in to the system.

But over the years we have ended up with a welfare system where you could receive uncapped benefits much higher than the average wage.

We’ve capped benefits at £500 a week.

You could also lose benefits when you move into work and end up being worse off.

We are reforming this system by bringing in the universal credit, which will mean that work always pays.

We need to be sure that those who are unwell are assessed regularly so that as soon as they are well enough to return to work, they do.

That’s why we are assessing everyone claiming incapacity benefit.

We need a simpler pension system so that everyone knows it always pays to save.

We are reforming this with a simple state pension.

We want to have subsidised housing available for growing families. We are building more social homes, but we also need to make sure that when kids grow up and leave home, families are encouraged to move to smaller properties so that we make best use of our precious social housing.

Finally, we are proud that we spend more than 12 billion a year on helping people with the extra costs of their disability.

But 71 per cent of those on disability living allowance had never been re-checked so we are bringing in a personal independence payment based on assessing each person’s needs.

Our welfare system is too important to stay unreformed.

These reforms are fair and will bring back confidence in our vital safety net.

NO says Coun Joy Squires, Labour parliamentary candidate for Worcester

I AM a product of Britain’s welfare state.

I was born and brought up in a council house; I was fed national health milk and orange juice.

I had free school milk, a free education and access to free national health care.

My parents both worked long hours in very low paid jobs.

A mortgage was out of the question, as were holidays.

Were we poor? Yes. Making ends meet was a constant struggle and debt never far away.

They always said they wanted a better life for me and my brother.

My mum and dad were decent people who did the right thing all their hard working lives, brought their children up well and contributed to their local community.

Were they alive and working now, their low earnings would make them qualify for working tax credits and housing benefit.

Unemployment would be a reality for them both.

They would, to a greater or lesser extent be dependent on benefits to make ends meet – and many would castigate them as ‘scroungers’.

We label people on benefits as though they are a different species to us, yet they are our friends, family and neighbours.

The vast majority do not want to claim any help, but have no choice.

The evils of low pay, unemployment and disability force them into it.

I agree that our welfare benefits bill needs to be kept under control.

But the way to do that is to create jobs, give people the skills and training they need to do those jobs and make those jobs pay a decent living wage.

Those were the founding principles of Labour’s welfare state after the war and those principles should hold true today.

What do you think? Vote in our poll and use the comment form below to let us know.