Under the Tories, we have the highest ever number of people who are out of work because they are unwell and the highest number of economically inactive people for 12 years.

Labour is clear, people who can work, should. But rather than a proper plan to help people back to work, all we have from the government is more slogans, consultations, and reheated proposals.

The Government are consulting on the future of PIP (Personal Independence Payments) – a system created by the Tories that isn’t working for disabled people and isn’t working for the taxpayer.

We will look closely at what the government brings forward, but I want to see a system that allows disabled people to live independently and enable as many as possible to work. Merely consulting on this now, after overseeing years of failure, proves this Conservative Government is out of ideas and out of time.

They say they want to stop the stigma of mental health and then tells us “there is a danger that this has gone too far”.

Contrast that to Labour’s long-term plan to build a healthier nation and get people back into work. We will tackle the root causes of economic inactivity which are locking people out
of work and driving up the benefits bill by reforming social security, making work pay, and supporting people into good jobs across every part of the country.

Labour’s plan includes:

• Reforming Jobcentres so that they have a new focus on tackling the barriers to good employment; devolving new powers over employment support and changing their duties to require collaboration with other support agencies, including the NHS.
• Overhauling Access to Work for disabled people, so they know what equipment, adaptations or personal support they’ll get before they start work – giving them the confidence to take the plunge.
• Into work guarantee: Introducing changes to incapacity benefits to encourage disabled people and people with ill health – who are currently not required to seek work by the benefits system – to try work without fear of losing their income or having to be reassessed if the job doesn’t work out.
• Our New Deal for Working People will improve workers’ rights for the first time in a generation, guaranteeing better contracts, stronger unions, and higher wages.

It’s Labour’s mission to give our country its future back. The next generation deserves so much better than 14 failed years. Instead of making speeches complaining about the problems he himself has created, the Prime Minister should call the general election and let the people have their say