The World and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has said that people who “can work, must work” which comes as Labour is overhauling the welfare system.
Labour wants to get people back to work as there is many who have long-term illnesses, she warned that the benefits bill for those on sick or have a disability will rise by “£26 billion by the end of this Parliament,” Kendall told MPs in the House of Commons.
Kendall said on Tuesday the Tories failed to create “good jobs in every part of the country” and they also failed to deliver “on the NHS” and to properly reform welfare.
She told MPs in the Commons, “But under our Government, this will change, with new opportunities matched by the responsibility to take them up. Because under this Labour government, if you can work, you must work.”
On Tuesday the government published their “Get Britain Working Again” plan which will attempt to get around 2.8 million people back into work that are on long-term sickness.
Labour will “guarantee” that young people will be offered an apprenticeship or training to find a job as they are valued.
She added, “You are important. We will invest in you and give you the chances and choices you deserve.
“But in return for these new opportunities, you have a responsibility to take them up, because being unemployed or lacking basic qualifications when you’re young can harm your job prospects and wages for the rest of your life, and that is not good enough for young people or for our country.”
Labour promised during the election to increase employment by 80% from its current level of 75%, however she did not set a target date for these plans.
Kendall said that ministers are taking their first steps “towards delivering out bold ambition of an 80% employment rate.”
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said that Labour has “dodged the tough decisions” and asked Kendall has not revealed Labour’s plans to crackdown on those who are on sick.
Whately said, “Where are the reforms to fit notes, which we had handed over all ready to go? Where is her plan for reforming the workplace capability assessment? She has banked the £3 billion of savings from our plan, but failed to set out her own.”
