Jobless targeted in UK welfare shake-up

Danny Kemp Yahoo! News 11/11/2010 17:40

The coalition unveiled plans Thursday to stop handouts for up to three years to jobless who refuse work, in the biggest shake-up in the history of the welfare state, a day after violent protests rocked London.

The government also plans a "universal credit" instead of the current complex system of separate benefit payments as part of reforms aimed at cutting Britain's huge deficit.

The announcement came a day after university students stormed the headquarters of the Conservative party during a march against plans to hike tuition fees, in the first sign of public anger against the austerity drive.

"We will make sure work always pays more than being on benefit," Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said as he unveiled the plans before parliament.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition describes the plans as the most radical since Britain's wide-ranging welfare state was put in place shortly after World War II.

Speaking in South Korea where he is attending the G20 summit, Cameron said: "It simply has to pay to work. You can't have a situation where if someone gets out of bed and goes and does a hard day's work they end up worse off."

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