Can Labour cut welfare spending and still be seen as a party of social justice?

Labour's embrace of plans to reduce the incapacity benefit bill by 3bn has the potential to trigger a backbench revolt

One of the most important takeaways from last week's high court ruling declaring the government consultation on reform of incapacity benefits to be unlawful was the clarity with which it highlighted the failure of Conservative ministers to be honest about why they wanted the changes, and who will lose out as a result.

The ruling effectively pointed out that the previous administration's presentation of cuts to incapacity benefit as a positive development for low-income claimants was misleading because it unaccountably neglected to mention 420,000 of them would also be 416 a month out of pocket, and many of them thrust into abject poverty.