The Government is stepping up its campaign for radical reform of the welfare state with a Prime Ministerial "roadshow" backed up by a series of pamphlets setting out the case for change.

Tony Blair began a tour of the country in the West Midlands to explain to the party and the people why the current system needs updating.

Writing in The Times on Thursday, Mr Blair says the welfare state has become a dead end for too many people despite the ever-increasing amount of cash poured into it.

The roadshow began on the day Downing Street announced that Mr Blair will chair a new ministerial group on welfare reform, which will hold its first meeting next Thursday.

"The case for reform"

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Security has backed up the PM's message with a pamphlet and a series of seven "focus files" outlining the facts about benefits.

The documents will prepare the way for a Parliamentary discussion document, or Green Paper, later this year setting out the Government's new policy framework.

Publication of the documents coincided with a report by the National Audit Office, which said disability fraud costs £499m a year, while fraud in Income Support costs an estimated £1.7bn, up from £1.4bn in 1994.

The DSS "case for reform" pamphlet says the Government aims to build a "welfare state fit for the 21st century, which extends opportunity and security to all".

Promising that the principles set out by welfare state founder William Beveridge will remain "central", it states:

• Society has a duty to help people in genuine need.

• Individuals have a responsibility to help provide for themselves.

• Work is the best route out of poverty for those who can work, and fraud should be minimised.

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