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perfect and just because the welfare state had its faults was no reason to ditch it. And that was about as enthusiastic as the defence of state welfare got.

If this debate had been held in 1945, people like Nye Bevan (right) and Clement Attlee would have used soaring rhetoric to suggest that a new and vastly better Britain was going to be made possible by state control. Labour leaders thought they were building a New Jerusalem through state intervention. My opponents doubtless still believed in the welfare state. The British people still say they do, too. But it is like a religion in which people no longer truly have faith - they go through the rituals and turn up at Christmas.

Which is why reforms that were inconceivable 15 years ago are politically possible now. David Cameron is expected to announce this week that he is giving up the previous Tory idea of a "patient's passport" which was going to allow people, in certain circumstances, to buy private operations with the aid of a state subsidy. Instead Cameron apparently intends to increase the proportion

Nye Bevan
The welfare state is like a religion in which people no longer truly have faith.

of private operations paid for by the NHS. It is a significant policy change. But we should note that the new Conservative leader takes for granted that a wholly state-operated NHS is finished. The only question is by which method to introduce the private sector.

The reduction of true belief in the welfare state means change is possible. Competition and the private sector can be brought into education. Those people claiming welfare benefits can be helped to get jobs by competing private companies. (For instance, companies might receive bonuses according to how many unemployed they can get back into work, as happens in parts of America.)

The way is open to get away from the inefficient state monopolies we have known for so long - just as we got away from state-run gas, electricity and telephone companies. Even this would be a long way from truly radical reform. But it would be hugely better than the wholly state-delivered welfare that we have at present.

FIRST POSTED JANUARY 3

James Bartholomew is the author of The Welfare State We're In (Politicos £18.99)
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