Simon Danczuk MP: 'Personal responsibility has to be at the heart of our welfare system' Braddock's luck changed when he was offered a fight again. His right hand now healed and hungry to get back to work again, he won. And he kept on winning. Braddock soon became a national phenomenon because the public knew his story, and they knew he was fighting because he couldn't stand to see his family go hungry. But he really captured the imagination of Americans when he took his name off the relief rolls and went to pay back every cent he'd received in welfare payments. Soon after Braddock become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. For millions of Americans this story validated the welfare system. If even the world heavyweight boxing champion had needed welfare then it touched everyone. When asked why he had paid back every welfare payment he'd ever received, Braddock said because he was grateful to live in such a great country that can help people out when they're in need. I don't share this story because I think we need to adopt a U.S style welfare system, because we don't. Neither do I expect people who've gone from being on the dole to achieve success to pay back benefit payments. But I certainly think we can be patriotic about welfare and realise we're lucky to live in a country that will step in and help out those most in need. Braddock's story is about honour and personal responsibility, qualities that are rarely reported in today's welfare culture. Welfare is not an entitlement or a right. It is a contract between the State and individuals that's reliant on personal responsibility. Once that sense of responsibility starts to haemorrhage then the whole system is thrown into disrepute. Ed Miliband showed yesterday that Labour recognises this contract is no longer what it was. Serious work needs to be done to restore confidence in our welfare system. When he says that Labour now stands firmly against "the denial of responsibility by those who could work and aren't doing so...this country needs to be a nation where people who can work, do work," then this signals a major departure from the the years when a blind eye was turned to those who abused our welfare system. Successive Governments have allowed public confidence in welfare to crumble. Remember it was the Tories who said unemployment "was a price worth paying." They literally parked people on benefits and left them there. This is no way to govern a country and no way to help communities everywhere realise their full potential. Yesterday's announcement that Labour would restore the contributory principle to welfare, cap structural welfare spending, tackle low pay and housing shortages and limit the time people can spend on the dole is a major start. There is much work still to do but Labour is moving in the right direction on an issue where the public is impatient for change.