The Prime Minister promised that benefits for people who are fit for work but do not accept a job offer will be withdrawn after 12 months.

Outlining his plans to reform the welfare system if the Conservatives win the next election, Rishi Sunak said “unemployment support should be a safety net, not an option” as he pledged to “make sure hard work always pays off”.

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Sunak said his government would introduce a package of measures in the next parliament that would be “more ambitious in helping people get back into work and be more honest about the risks of over-medicating everyday challenges and life worries”. They include:

• Benefits withdrawn after 12 months for those deemed suitable for work but who do not comply with conditions set by the job coach (such as accepting a job offer)

• Strengthen work ability assessment so that people with less severe conditions are expected to be employed

• A review of the fitting recording system to focus on what someone can do, to be carried out by independent assessors rather than GPs

• Rules change, people working less than half full-time hours a week will have to find more work

• Advice on PIP to learn about changes to eligibility and targeted support – such as offering talk therapy instead of cash payments

• Introducing a new Fraud Bill to treat benefit fraud as tax fraud and provide new powers to seize and arrest.

He insisted the changes were not intended to make the welfare system “less generous”, adding: “I am not prepared to leave the balance to the most vulnerable.

“Instead, the key questions are about eligibility, who should be entitled to support and what kind of support best meets their needs.”

But Labor said the Conservatives’ handling of the NHS was leaving people “unable” to work, with a disability charity calling the measures “dangerous”.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 9.4 million people aged 16 to 64 are “economically inactive”, with more than 2.8 million citing long-term illness as a reason.

Mr Sunak said 850,000 people have withdrawn since the pandemic, with half of those with long-term conditions saying they suffer from depression, with the biggest area of ​​growth being among young people.

He also claimed that total welfare spending for working-age people with disabilities or health problems has increased by almost two-thirds since the pandemic to £69bn, more than the entire budget for schools or policing.

“I will never ignore or downplay the illnesses that people suffer from,” the Prime Minister said. “Anyone who lives with mental illness, or has family and friends, knows that these conditions are real and important.

“But just as it would be wrong to ignore this growing trend, it would be wrong to stand back and accept it simply because it is too difficult, too controversial, or for fear of causing offence.”

The Prime Minister said he knew critics would accuse him of a “lack of compassion” but insisted “it’s quite the opposite”, adding: “There is nothing compassionate about leaving a generation of young people sitting in the dark in front of a flickering screen. . Seeing that our dreams are getting further and further away from us day by day.

“It’s unfair to expect taxpayers to support people who can work but choose not to.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We can change. We have to change.”

But Labor said the “fundamental cause of economic activity” was the Conservatives’ failures in the health service. Keeping track of NHS waiting lists Hitting people’s ability to return to the workplace.

Alison McGovern, acting shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “A healthy country is vital to a healthy economy, but the Conservatives have completely failed on both fronts.

“We’ve had 14 Tory eras, five Tory prime ministers, seven Tory chancellors, and the result has been record numbers of people losing their jobs due to illness – which has cost them, businesses and billions of dollars in tax payments. The toll on people is terrible, more so in spiraling welfare bills.

“Today’s announcement proves this failed government is running out of ideas.”

Disability charity Scope also called the measures a “blanket attack on disabled people”, saying they were “dangerous and risk leaving disabled people trapped in poverty”.

James Taylor, the charity’s strategy director, said people were already “flooding” their helpline with concerns about the impact on them, adding: “Sanctioning and ending claims will only cause more distress for people in distress. “Cost of living crisis. “