The lesson is a salutary one for a Coalition intent on change. These raids happened because the lines were blurred by governments which abandoned the duty to promote a system that could be afforded and paid for by working people in respect of their own cover. Instead, it moved to a different form of welfare and a softer rhetoric in which one group of people was paid with another group's money, often beyond a just redistribution of tax. That was to culminate in Gordon Brown's use of the system for favoured groups, for which the Coalition must pay the bill. The danger is that unless the ever-increasing plunder of the middle class's assets is stopped, its victims will either move themselves out of reach or the government to the opposition. Economists warn of the flight of capital, labour, earnings — and the taxes they bring in — as people escape from the governments who punish them for earning.

The Coalition therefore has every reason to restore fairness and affordability — the watchwords of the moment. It can do so at a stroke with the benefit system through one fundamental change, to ownership. Just as personal ownership is proposed for free schools and social care, so too it could work for benefit. How would this work?

First, NI would be restored as a system for personal insurance accounts based on benefit for contribution. Cover for loss of earnings and retirement would be central to an updated package. Once the rules were agreed, a settlement for each person would be calculated for contributions made in working life. The system would be governed by law, but managed by independent societies or companies. For most people, the incentive to work, keep costs down and save for a rainy day or for retirement would be through the individual account that could be topped up for extra cover.

For the jobless who do not find work, economists now propose ownership of benefit. Everyone, they say, should own their individual account where unemployment benefit is credited each week. The balance builds up for people who work and do not draw benefit, but can only be cashed in at retirement. Such accounts would be cost-neutral because of the incentive effect. The figures calculated for Germany, France and Italy suggest unemployment would fall in these countries between 34 per cent and 50 per cent. 

And for those who remain out of work or do not contribute? Ministers insist that people on benefit should not be as well off financially as those who work and earn. Their support would be paid from general tax and calculated so as to be sufficient but comparatively fair and managed under the new Universal Credit.