Some may call the Government's welfare reforms harsh, but they are necessary if they are serious about reducing the deficit and ensuring more people enter work. And the figures Patrick Mcloughlin, the Conservative Party Chairman, quoted this morning on the Andrew Marr Show are shocking.

Spending on welfare must come down

According to McLoughlin, the Government spends £60 billion more on welfare than what it is raking in from taxpayers. For those on the left who condemn 'Tory cuts', this is only the beginning. This proves that the Conservatives need to go further in reducing the welfare bill.

Iain Duncan Smith resigned last year because he felt the Government's cuts towards disabled people went too far. Perhaps they did, but after the next general election, the Conservatives need to be more radical with its reforms.

We are all in this together

So far, pensioners' benefits have been protected, such as the winter fuel allowance. But if the Conservatives are serious about ensuring 'we are all in this together', then welfare cuts need to be spread evenly. Benefits like the winter fuel allowance need to be means-tested, as do free bus passes, so that the poorest pensioners are safeguarded from poverty whilst enabling welfare cuts to be spread more evenly.

Further change is due to come

So McLoughlin was right this morning: further change is due to come.