Labour says jobless cannot ‘live a life on benefits’ as it pledges to be ‘party of work’

Labour will fight the next election as the “party of work” and warn the jobless they will not be able to live a “life on benefits”, the party’s shadow work and pensions secretary said.

Liz Kendall said young people will be told they have a “responsibility” to accept jobs or training opportunities when they are offered.

In an interview with The Telegraph, she made a direct appeal to life-long Conservative voters, saying: “If you believe in hard work, responsibility, taking care of yourself and your family… then take a look at us.”

And as Jeremy Hunt prepares to deliver his Budget, she accused the Chancellor of having “failed” on work - overseeing a huge increase in the numbers off work through sickness.

Ms Kendall will today unveil a new offer for young people, including better mental health support in schools, and improved work experience and careers advice to help them enter work or training.

She will point out that one in eight young people are now not in work, education or training (NEET), the highest level since 2016 - costing the taxpayer billions in benefits.

There are now 851,000 so-called NEETs, an increase of 20,000 in a year.

“We will not write them off like the Conservatives,” she said. “In return for those new opportunities, young people will have a responsibility to take up work or training when it’s offered.

“Because under a changed Labour Party, if you can work there will be no option of a life on benefits.

“And that’s not just because the vast majority of the British public think rights and responsibilities go hand-in-hand. But because if you’re out of work or you lack basic qualifications, that could have a lifelong impact.

“That is not good enough for young people and it’s not good enough for our country. We believe that you should have the chance to fulfil your potential and live your hopes and dreams, no matter where you’re born, no matter what your parents did, no matter what your gender or the colour of your skin.”

She added: “Labour is the party of work… Labour was founded by working people for working people, it is our name, and under Keir Starmer and the changed Labour Party, work will absolutely be at the heart of what we do.

“We believe in the value of work, and that that goes beyond a payslip.

“For millions of families across Britain, holding down a job and providing for themselves and their family gives them a sense of dignity and self respect, and good work is good for mental health. Good work gives you pride and purpose and sense of fulfilment, and for many women, it gives them freedom and independence too.”

The shadow minister said the Tories had “failed” over 14 years by not tackling Britain’s worklessness crisis, and Mr Hunt had also failed to tackle the issue despite making big promises in previous Budgets.

She pointed out that the UK has a record high in the number of people out to work due to long-term sickness: 2.8 million people.

“For all the Tories’ talk about being tough on benefits, if you look over the next five years, there’s going to be 600,000 more people on sickness and disability benefits, and it’s going to cost an extra £33 billion,” she said. “So they have failed on work.

“I know many of your readers are lifelong Conservative voters - but I would say to them: Take a look at Labour, we have changed.

“If you believe in hard work, responsibility, taking care of yourself and your family; if you believe in being careful with taxpayers’ money - because it’s not the government’s money, it’s your money; if you want a leader and a chancellor who will build everything on the rock of fiscal credibility, then take a look at us, because we we want your support.

“We know we’ve got to work hard to convince Conservative voters that we share those values, those decent British values. And we’re going to work day and night to convince people to trust us at the next election.”

Bringing down the number of inactive people will not only benefit individuals and taxpayers, it will help business, she said.

“Every single day I’m speaking to my businesses who say the number one barrier for them growing is they can’t recruit,” she said. “So we’ve got to sort out everything from the apprenticeship levy and other skills to make sure our businesses can recruit.”

She said Labour would bring in 1,000 new careers advisers, specialist mental health support in every school and a new growth and skills levy to boost apprenticeships.

New technical excellence colleges will improve young people’s skills, there will be new employment advisers for young people after they have left school, and more help for the disabled.