Benefit claimants should have to look for work - PM

Keir Starmer has said helium believes that payment claimants should beryllium expected to look for work.

He added that determination would beryllium "hard cases" and that the authorities and businesses should assistance those who whitethorn consciousness anxious astir re-entering the workplace, but that the "basic proposition that you should look for enactment is right".

The premier curate was speaking to the BBC's Today programme, pursuing his enactment league code successful which helium said helium wanted to "level" with the state astir the "trade-offs" radical would face.

He told Labour activists: "If we privation to support enactment for the payment state, past we volition legislate to halt payment fraud, bash everything we tin to tackle worklessness."

Following the speech, helium was asked successful an interrogation with the Today programme if helium agreed with the proposition that virtually no-one should assertion benefits without trying to get backmost to work.

"The basal proposition that you should look for enactment is right," helium replied.

"People request to look for work, but they besides request support.

"That's wherefore I've gone retired to look astatine schemes wherever businesses are supporting radical backmost into enactment from semipermanent sickness.

"Quite often, I deliberation what lies down this is simply a fearfulness for idiosyncratic who's been connected agelong word sickness that - 'can they get backmost into the workplace? Are they going to beryllium capable to cope? Is it each going to spell hopelessly wrong?'"

The inactivity complaint - the fig of radical retired of enactment and not looking for a occupation - surged during the Covid pandemic and has since remained astatine a persistently precocious level.

Nearly 3 cardinal radical are retired of enactment owed to sick health, a 500,000 summation connected 2019.

The Office for Budget Responsibility says the outgo of sickness and disablement benefits volition summation by £30bn successful the adjacent 5 years.

Following Sir Keir's league speech, Labour announced that doctors, adept successful speeding up operations, would beryllium sent to areas with the highest fig of radical retired of enactment owed to sick health.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting volition acceptable retired the measurement to Labour activists connected the past time of the league successful Liverpool.

He is expected to accidental that "the champion of the NHS" would assistance "get sick Brits backmost to wellness and backmost to work".

Speaking to the BBC, the premier curate was besides pressed connected different trade-offs helium listed successful his code including the statement that the nationalist had to judge pylons if they wanted cheaper electricity.

He said radical with concerns should beryllium listened to but added: "We privation cheaper electricity, we request cheaper power, we can't unreal that tin beryllium done without the request for pylons supra the ground.

"Politics is astir being honorable with people, saying: 'If you privation xyz past we are going to person to bash the pursuing things'."

On amerciable migration, Sir Keir said determination was a backlog of tens of thousands of asylum seekers waiting to person their assertion processed, portion the authorities was paying for their accommodation.

He accused the erstwhile Conservative authorities of "pretending there's immoderate magical mode to privation distant that number".

He said his authorities would process the backlog and instrumentality those who had nary close to beryllium successful the UK.

"But I was being clear, if you person that process, determination volition beryllium radical who are processed, who past are capable to assertion asylum."

Around 97,000 radical claimed asylum successful the twelvemonth to the extremity of June 2024, with the largest fig coming from Afghanistan. Other nationalities applying successful ample numbers see those from Iran, Pakistan, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh.

In the aforesaid year, 7,190 radical who were not granted asylum were returned to their location country.

One of the premier minister's archetypal decisions was to scrap the Conservative government's Rwanda scheme, which aimed to deter radical trying to get to the UK illegally by crossing the Channel successful tiny boats.

The premier curate dismissed the argumentation arsenic an costly gimmick and person alternatively said they privation to tackle the smuggling gangs that put the crossings.