In addition to printing the columns of Mark Steyn (OK all bar one) - and today's one is a humdinger (as Tim Wortsall notes) - the Torygraph manages to get a lot of other good stuff in their opinion section. Today it has two excellent articles on the Labour party and the UK.
The first is an editorial about Labour's anti-semitism. I have to say that I tend to incline to the rule of "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, thrice is deliberate action" and my general belief that the Labour party was only on stage one or possibly two was rather shaken. The Labour party does, at best, seem to be woefully lacking in a knowledge of literary history and I fear that indeed the Torygraph is correct and that the Labour party is indeed guilty of that latent anti-semitism which they so loudly protest in others. The Torygraph is not alone in this - Stephen Pollard wrote about it in the Independant, and the blog Silent Running had in addition to commentary, an excellent graphic which illustrates the problem rather clearly (one wonders whether either the Silent Running graphic or the original Labour ad would be permitted if the Religious Respect bill were passed).
The second Labour piece today, by David Green, is eloquent in showing how the Labour party has managed to make it so that large numbers of people depend on government largesse. Indeed the Labour party has done a wonderful job in hiding its socialism but it is still there:
Labour's penchant for multiculturalism, for example, has led to a proliferation of jobs designed to ensure the proportionate representation of ethnic minorities in the workplace, and to stamp out the illicit practices of the hegemonic white middle class, such as its fondness for guided walks in the Lake District. The strategy of creating interest groups beholden to Labour has increased public-sector employment by some 10 per cent since 1998. With nearly 5.5 million employees, the public sector now accounts for almost one in every five jobs (or non-jobs); more than half a million have been created in the past seven years.
The Government has also increased the number of people on benefits generally. There are now more people on benefits than during the first full year of Labour rule. Indeed, the number on what are termed "key benefits" has increased from six million in November 1998 to 6.6 million in December 2004. Of course, Labour has tried to hide what is happening by renaming a major benefit a "tax credit", but the trend is unmistakable.
How does this compare with recent history? In 1951, less than four per cent of the population received national assistance or unemployment benefit. In 1971, it was still only eight per cent. In 2004, the proportion of the working-age population dependent on key benefits was 18 per cent. According to the Government's Family Resources Survey, 30 per cent of households received half or more of their income from the state in 2002-03. Among households over pension age, the proportion was 60 per cent. The real story is that we have taken huge strides on the road to becoming a nation of supplicants.
Adding up the numbers and you have more than 12 million people or 20% of the entire population sucking at the public teat and so far as I can tell no intention to try and reign it in. Colour me depressed about Britain, but impressed with the Torygraph.