One million off benefits

The government unveiled its plans to get one million people off benefits and back to work yesterday. The plan, to ‘transform’ the lives of people currently on benefits, was launched by work and pensions minister James Purnell who said benefit claimants would have to play their part in the economy either with some form of work or in preparing themselves to find work in the future, or face losing some state payments. Only carers, jobless parents of very young children or severely disabled people would be exempt.