Liz Kendall says young people who won’t take up work will lose benefits

Liz Kendall said: ‘We will transform those opportunities, but young people will be required to take them up.’ Photograph: Lucy North/PA

Young people who refuse to take up jobs or training will lose their benefits in the government’s crackdown on worklessness, Liz Kendall has said.

The work and pensions secretary said on Sunday: “If people repeatedly refuse to take up the training or work responsibilities, there will be sanctions on their benefits.”