Jeremy Hunt and Mel Stride warn against benefits ‘lifestyle choice’

Jeremy Hunt and Mel Stride said in their joint article that people out of work owing to long-term sickness were a ‘challenge’. Photograph: Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/AFP/Getty Images

The UK chancellor and the welfare secretary have suggested that too many people are claiming unemployment benefit as a lifestyle choice after a rise in joblessness.

Jeremy Hunt and Mel Stride used a joint article in the Times to ramp up the government’s anti-welfare rhetoric in the run-up to the general election.