As Labour prepares to wield the axe, it must avoid causing more harm to those on benefits

It did it before and it can do it again. Labour’s “new deal” employment programme was its 1997 flagship. Now those lessons, ignored and trashed in the Tory years, are being revived. While Labour was good at scrupulously monitoring the results of its social programmes, the Tories ruled by their gut instincts.

Faced with high unemployment and shocking numbers of youths who had been dumped and neglected, Labour’s new deal for young people worked. By 2002, it could rightly claim the virtual eradication of youth long-term unemployment.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

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