In the Cold War battle for hearts and minds Britain was the first country to formulate a coordinated global response to communist propaganda. In January 1948, the British government launched a new propaganda policy designed to 'oppose the inroads of communism' by taking the offensive against it.' A small section in the Foreign Office, the innocuously titled Information Research Department (IRD), was established to collate information on communist policy, tactics and propaganda, and coordinate the discreet dissemination of counter-propaganda to opinion formers at home and abroad.

Based on an extensive series of interviews with MPs and Peers from across Parliament, the book traces the dynamics of political debate on welfare both between and within parties; assesses the emergence of a new political consensus on welfare; details the welfare policy environment and the reform of Parliament under Labour; examines the extent to which MPs support developments in welfare policy; provides the most detailed assessment to date of MPs' attitudes to welfare and their views on the future of the welfare state under Blair and beyond and offers the first consideration of the role of the reconstituted House of Lords in the scrutiny of welfare policy. "Welfare policy under New Labour" provides a timely examination of the role of Parliament in the policy process. It will prove invaluable to scholars and students of social policy and British politics and professionals working in social work and welfare policy. It also provides useful insights for those who wish to lobby Parliament in these fields.

In the Cold War battle for hearts and minds Britain was the first country to formulate a coordinated global response to communist propaganda. In January 1948, the British government launched a new propaganda policy designed to 'oppose the inroads of communism' by taking the offensive against it.' A small section in the Foreign Office, the innocuously titled Information Research Department (IRD), was established to collate information on communist policy, tactics and propaganda, and coordinate the discreet dissemination of counter-propaganda to opinion formers at home and abroad.