I HAVE some regard for Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary.

Instead of retiring in a huff after an unsuccessful spell as Conservative party leader, he threw himself into a determined effort to understand what is happening to the most disadvantaged in our society.

Time will tell if his efforts to force people out of benefits into work have any lasting success.

I have my doubts because employers running “tighter ships” can choose from a large pool of applicants.

They are not likely to be thrilled at the prospect of taking on somebody with no apparent skills who has not been in permanent employment for a decade.

This solution to the nation’s ills depends on the input of employers.

Mr Duncan Smith knows this all too well and believes they should give priority to British jobseekers.

He told a thinktank in Spain that more than half the jobs created in this country between 1997 and 2010 went to foreign nationals.

“As we work hard to break welfare dependency and get young people ready for the labour market we need businesses to play their part,” he said.

Not surprisingly, the British Chambers of Commerce and the CBI believe firms should hire the best people for the job — often people from eastern Europe who, they claim, are better workers. It seems obvious that cheaper labour is the main attraction.

History suggests that commercial enterprises have more loyalty to shareholders than to politicians and the people they serve.