ABSTRACT
The new Conservative government took office armed with a radical zeal to change the face of economic and social policy in Britain. The Conservatives had no inhibitions about defining the economic situation in terms of conflict. They did not need to denounce the entire working class, but merely to attack the false leadership of those who promised growth of incomes without major change. The abolition of unemployment benefit would be far the most effective way of attacking the standards of living of the most rapidly rising sector of the population, and achieving this social policy aim. The radical innovation of Conservative social policy has been its determination to cut transfer payments. Monetarist theorists have not always been opposed to transfer payments, as long as the principles behind them are simple.
