Hundreds of thousands of people not in jobs were on Tuesday told it was their “duty to work” if they could.
The stark message came from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's deputy, ahead of the Autumn Statement on Wednesday when the Government will launch a fresh drive to get more people off benefits and into the labour market.
Laura Trott, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News: “If you can work as a principle you should work and that is what the Government believes.
“That has been the thrust of all of our policies.
“Of course there should be support for people to help them into work or with issues that they are facing.
“But ultimately there is a duty on citizens that if they are able to go out to work that is what they should do.”
Rishi Sunak has branded as a “national scandal” that around two million working-age people were not in employment in the country.
A record 2.3 million Britons are not working because of long-term illness, according to the most recent figures released by the Office for National Statistics. Economists have warned this represents a “serious fiscal threat” to the UK.
About 12.7 per cent of working age Londoners are on out-of-work benefits, figures show.
Barking and Dagenham and Hackney are the boroughs with the highest proportion of claimants, with 16 per cent of the working-age population on out-of-work benefits in February 2023, a number unchanged since the same month in 2021 during the height of the Covid pandemic.
The City of London had the lowest overall proportion and at the same time saw the largest percentage point decrease in claimants - from 8 per cent in February 2022 to 6 per cent in the same month of 2023.
The PM has vowed to “clamp down” on welfare fraudsters, with a tougher sanctions regime including potentially losing free NHS prescriptions.
At the same time, more help will be offered to people to find work, including more mental health support.
Individuals will also be encouraged to work from home if they are unable to get into the office or another workplace.
In very similar language to the Government, shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said: "We expect everybody who can work should work."
But she accused the Government of failing to put in place a "proper plan" to support people into jobs.
Mr Sunak confirmed on Monday that there would be tax cuts announced in the Autumn Statement, with the priority being on businesses to boost the economy, which is currently stalled with zero growth in the most recent quarter.
Speculation was also growing that there may be a cut in National Insurance rather than Income Tax or Inheritance Tax but nothing has been confirmed.
The Prime Minister argued that he was now able to cut taxes after having met his target to halve inflation this year, following it falling from 10.7 per cent in January to 4.6 per cent in October.
However, the governor of the Bank of England has warned it is “much too early” to say that inflation has been beaten.
Andrew Bailey, who sits on the bank's Monetary Policy Committee which decides interest rates, said that inflation is still “too high”.
In a speech, he also said it was too early to start talking about cutting interest rates.
The Bank has hiked rates over the last two years in an attempt to help get inflation under control.
“While the inflation data for October released last week were welcome news, it is much too early to declare victory,” he said.
Government borrowing was higher than expected in October, largely pushed up by uprated benefits and cost-of-living payments, according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing stood at £14.9 billion last month, £4.4 billion more than a year earlier and the second-highest October borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.
It was more than the £13.7 billion expected by the UK’s fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), marking the first time it has overshot the official forecasts this financial year.
The ONS said financial year-to-date borrowing stood at £98.3 billion, £21.9 billion more than a year earlier, but less than the £115.2 billion forecast by the OBR in March 2023.
Mr Hunt said: “We met our pledge to halve inflation, but we must keep on supporting the Bank of England to drive inflation down to two per cent.
“That means being responsible with the nation’s finances.
“At my Autumn Statement tomorrow, I will focus on how we boost business investment and get people back into work to deliver the growth our country needs.”
