Liz Kendall has claimed too many people are “taking the mickey” when it comes to claiming benefits when they could be working.
The work and pensions secretary’s comments come after a survey from her department found 49% of people say they can never work – but Kendall believes some of them could.
Speaking to ITV News, the minister said: “I have no doubt, as there always have been, there are people who shouldn’t be on those benefits who are taking the mickey and that is not good enough – we have to end that.”
She added: “You should only get that support if you really need it.”
Kendall did acknowledge that “physical and mental health conditions fluctuate”, and said she does not “blame” people who think they cannot work “because they’re stuck on a waiting list for treatment”.
She continued: “They haven’t had the proper support that they might need from the job centre or the skills that they need to get the jobs, we’ve also got to create more jobs in the areas that need them most.
“So I’m under no illusions about the scale of the challenge that we’ve got. I believe more of those people could work. But even if we just start with those who say they can, we need to do more to get them back into work and that’s what our Get Britain Working plan is about.”
Kendall was also asked for her response to former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s past claim that the UK is “over-medicalising every day worries” in an attack on “sick note culture”.
The minister said she believes “there is genuinely a problem with many young people, particularly the Covid generation”.
She said: “But we can’t have a situation where doing a day’s work is in itself seen as stressful.”
Kendall pointed out that the UK will be spending £20bn more on sickness and disability benefits over the course of this parliament.
She said the government subsequently wants to overhaul the way job centres operate and reduce NHS waiting lists to improve employment levels.
Kendall did not address the recent reports Labour wants to cut benefits by £5,000 a year for hundreds of thousands of claimants, but said the government’s plans would be set out in spring.
