A shamelessly cheerful Harriet Harman was the keynote speaker at today's breakfast launch of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation "definitive" report on poverty, inequality and policy in the Labour years; Nick Timmins gives a pretty fair summary in today's FT .
Put briefly: as Labour poured money into welfare spending during its first term, the resultant redistribution shrank (modestly) the numbers of pensioners and children in relative poverty; by 2004 child and pensioner poverty started rising again, and wages were stalling. And as we already know, a plethora of expensive intitiatives made no impact whatosever on the NEETS (16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training) - despite a buoyant economy with no lack of of jobs.
As we stare into the pit of a plunging labour market, there is not much for the Government to be proud of. While she wages war on Mandy, staking out her place as the true champion of equality, Hattie would do well to apologise - on behalf of all her colleagues and especially her erstwhile friend and mentor Gordon Brown - for the wasted years, the wasted billions and the wasted opportunities. Opportunites to create a pro-work, pro-family welfare system with reduced dependency and genuine (not grade-inflated) educational opportunities for all. It's no good telling us you cared, or asking us to let you try more of the same. You had your chance (and our money) and you blew it. You might at least say sorry.