Referring to Sir William Beveridge's 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services Musgrove writes: "Seldom has a report addressed to a Government been so influential" (Musgrove , 2000: 845-846). It is a fact that when we read material today about the British welfare state and indeed the welfare states of many other countries, the name Beveridge always seems to find itself anchored within the lines. This prevalence over the years stems from the popularity it had with both the British government and its citizens at the time of its publication. Bought by 635,000 people, the Beveridge Report stated three key principles. Namely, the determination to be radical; launch a profound attack on want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness, called "the five giants"; and promote healthy cooperation between the state and the individual (Fraser, 1973). Guided by these principles, the report proposed a social security system based on three assumptions: that the government provide family allowances, establish a comprehensive health service, and maintain full employment. It is important to note that the Beveridge Report played an important role in the post-war elections of 1945. All major political parties showed interest in implementing its proposals and this was used to their advantage in their campaigns, especially the "Let Us Face the Future" works ” which subsequently led to the election of Clement Atlee as Prime Minister in July 1945. Hill states that the laws passed immediately after the end of the war under the Attlee administration were clearly and explicitly inspired by the Beveridge Report. Particularly through the Family Allowances Act of 1945, the National Insurance Act of 1946, the National Health Act of 1946 and... half of the document... adopted soon after the war, it is clear that they were strongly influenced by the Beveridge Report . Primarily through the implementation of Beveridge's assumptions on the provision of family allowances, the creation of national insurance and the implementation of a comprehensive health service. The Beveridge Report further influenced Labour's social reforms by providing a list of ills to be eradicated which the Atlee government acted upon with varying success. To conclude, it is a fact that, although the systems actually implemented have diverged over the years from the model contained in the Beveridge Report, the impact that Beveridge had in shaping the post-war welfare state was profound. In any case, without Beveridge and his organized action plan, it is safe to say that the British welfare state would be different to the one we know today..