ABSTRACT
Rethinking the role and function of the welfare state is central to the New Labour project. The Report of the Commission on Social Justice, published in 1994, set out key ideas on the development of a new ‘intelligent’ welfare state, designed as much to prevent as to alleviate poverty. The following points are among those identified as germane to the operation of the new welfare state:
• Wealth creation and wealth distribution are two sides of the same coin; wealth pays for welfare, but equity is efficient.
