Jon, no hard feelings!
The benefit system is particularly skewed at the moment because of the incredible obsession by politicos of all colours in cracking down on fraud. That means that all claims have to be examined at six-monthly intervals, and yet no extra staff have been taken on by most departments - resulting in horrendous delays.
Yet what rarely gets mentioned is just how much money goes unclaimed in the UK because people can't cope with the system. Last I heard it was estimated at around £2 billion - which would make a heck of a difference to a lot of people.
Sadly, by the sound of them, Blair's plans to bring the private sector in will only make things worse (much as they've done with the prison and courts service. Group 4 is a national joke/disgrace)
I for one would quite like my old Labour Party back. Meanwhile, the current one is the lesser of several evils.