One consequence of the recent debate on disability benefits should be the acceptance of a shared responsibility across the Labour family to support the government with alternative approaches to welfare reform. Here in Greater Manchester, where there was strong opposition to the cuts, we accept our responsibility entirely.

As clear as the case is for some form of wealth taxation, it would be wrong to make that the only response. The Department for Work and Pensions system didn’t work for people before last week’s debate and it still doesn’t now. What is needed is a unifying version of reform, and we think we can help with that.

With a decade of devolution behind us, Greater Manchester is ready to step forward as the UK’s first “prevention demonstrator”, showing how we can prevent poor outcomes for residents and rising costs of public services. We are proud to have received that official designation from the government in the 10-year health plan for England, and we are confident we can live up to it.

The time has come to break with Whitehall business as usual and build an entirely new model of support. One of the many problems with Whitehall’s approach to welfare reform is trying to solve the complex issue of getting more people into work from within the narrow policy silo of the DWP when, in truth, the answers are much more likely to lie........

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