Tories plan welfare shake-up
Updated on 05 October 2009
The last Conservative conference before the general election hears plans for a welfare-shake up and business tax breaks.
For a party which under David Cameron is desperate to define the future, there were times when it had the whiff of the 1990s about it.
Like previous Tory leaders, Mr Cameron also had to deal with the issue of Europe after calls for a referendum on the Lisbon treaty - even if it is ratified before the next election.
Earlier the party spelt out plans whereby which would mean more than half a million benefit claimants having their state help cut by £25 a week to pay for plans to get people back into work.
Every one of the 2.6 million people claiming incapacity benefit will be tested to see whether they really are too ill to work, with studies suggesting up to a fifth will be found fit enough to have a job.
Switching them to jobseeker's allowance would, the party has calculated, pay the £600m upfront costs of a massive welfare shake-up which will see far more private firms paid for getting people back into jobs.
Mr Cameron said the "tough and difficult" choice to subject all claimants to tests, even those who were clearly not able to work, was needed to stem the rising tide of recession-fuelled unemployment.
The shake-up, which the Tory leader said would make his party "the party of jobs and opportunities", has been made the centrepiece of the party's annual conference in Manchester.
Mr Cameron also said he would not say whether he would meet Eurosceptics' demands to hold a public vote, even if all EU states had ratified the treaty by the time of the next general election.
Labour has also proposed a system of "work tests" for claimants - and carried out a pilot study which was used to calculate the Conservatives' costings.
But the opposition says Gordon Brown's government has shown no will to implement the policy and has not included the potential savings in the budget.
Mr Cameron said that the extra cash would pay for speeding up help for young people looking for a job and would enable a "much more aggressive" use of the private and voluntary sector. Rules will be changed to allow payment by results, with anticipated savings from welfare bills available up front to get people jobs in the first place.
Later, Channel 4 News asked former Cabinet minister John Redwood, Justine Greening, Shadow Communities Minister, and Times journalist Daniel Finkelstein whether the concept of "compassionate Conservatism" was still relevant given the party's latest proposals.
Jon Snow also assessed the mood at the Tory conference and interviewed some of the attendees.
Meanwhile Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove debated the thorny question of Europe.
On Thursday the Channel 4 News website will be providing extended live coverage of David Cameron's speech to the Conservative conference, including film extracts, expert analysis and Twitter commentary. To watch and contribute, go to www.channel4.com/news from midday on 8 October.
