Will Labour Party Mps Get Behind Pm's Welfare Blitz?

Labour's blitz on benefits comes with some eye-catching language from the prime minister, announced in The Mail on Sunday. He has warned of Britain's "bulging benefits bill blighting our society" as he vows to cut the £137bn cost.

- KATE DEVLIN

But alongside the rhetoric of "sweeping changes" and "no more business as usual", what's behind this policy drive?

What are the numbers?

Figures suggest more than 4 million people will be claiming long-term sickness support by the end of the decade. The government's latest official forecasts show the number of people claiming incapacity benefits is expected to climb from around 2.5 million in 2019 to 4.2 million just 10 years later.

This corresponds to a recent rise in the number of people out of the labour market because of ill health. This was 4.9 per cent of the working-age population in 2019 but by 2023, just four years later, it was 6.4 per cent, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Why has this happened?