I dispair at the throw-away remarks / generalisations that the unemployed are somehow profiteering from claiming benefits. Unemployment is a miserable experience that could affect anyone of us. Those that are affected quickly become derailed by the cost of living and the cost of looking for work. What the unemployed need is a more comprehensive support structure that goes beyond the offer of a job and actually acknowledges the basic cost of going to work, particularly for those with children. This society needs a little more empathy and care for each other, a little less selfishness, and a little more thought towards these issues than the headline grabbing proposals made by politicians with only one motive on their minds - to win votes.

David Evans, Coleford, Gloucestershire

i have just had benifits for a prolonged period of time , during this time i was used by the governmant to care for my elderly parents. it didnt stop there, i also had to home educate my daughter who was some were in the autistic spectrum, i still cant get her to stay in school and she is still being assesed she is 15 we havent been able to obtain disability because
of that . it gets worse i was turned down for brain surgery because i was an unpaid carer only to find out 4 years down the road that i dont need it and there wasnt any need for the exstrer stress ive undergone . i cant get disability and im not allowed to drive. im hopping that know i will be able to get the operations i need for my cateracts as im going blind. not a disability. im desperate to work but im going to have to lie about my condition , as soon as you say you have a cavrenous angioma on your brain stem no one wants you. i was turned down by oxfam when i offered my services for free.

heather yeoman, eastgrinstead, mid suusex

The Labour government is perfectly happy to keep these layabouts on benefits... and to allow mass imigration... if they actually went and did something about it, then they'd be losing votes... It's all purely a move to keep themselves in power and to make it impossible for the Tories to ever get votes...

paulc, gloucester,

Why dont the tories put up minium wage and make it worth it going back to work im single and the mimium wage is a joke
i might as well be a slave!

michael atherton, keighley, west yorkshire

Aslong as a 'fair job' is not £2 a week more than you'd get on the dole.

I'm all for making people work, but make it in their benefit to work.

I'd personally make everyone, male or female, old or young, do 'work' for the government, if they get job seekers allowance. This would be cleaning graffiti (that would make parents stop their kids spraying, if they had to clean it off!), or cleaning parks, or weeding the flowers in the flower pots along the highstreet. That will give them incentive to find a nicer job.

I also think prisoners should be made to sort rubbish for recycling items!

Arthur, Newcastle,

If this change takes place how many people will simply be put on the disability register instead of job seekers allowance. This is already a standard practice to keep the unemployment figures down.

Anyone claiming benefits from the government should be vetted to ensure they are entitled. That means no economic migration of European citizens, illegal immigrants etc.

It would also be a good idea at the same time to state that if you are caught working on the side and claiming benefits you will be charged and go to jail and forever forfeit your entitlements.

joe, Edinburgh, Scotland

I definitely agree. Jobseekers allowance is truly for those people who are actively looking for work. The benefit just keeps them going with their household living. What really gets me angry, is seeing people claim benefit for their whole family, and drive around in a merc, and have a under the table pay job, while ther are people like me, who has just got in at 12,30am back from work to make sure that i have food on my table. Falsely claiming benefit is a crime. its theft. The money we pay from our taxes deducted from our wages are used to pay benefits. I think its really wrong and its about time the govnt has done something about it. Not only it keeps false claims at bay, but makes people responsible and mature, into knowing that you have to earn what you want - not steal.

Shah, London,

WIN WIN SITUATION...

But i got a family of one child & my house wife obviously who dont work so that means I would be working & my Wife would be on benifits...

if not then i suppose that this policy is actually in the BIN for me ...
Thank you.
M.H.B

Mohammad Butt, Bristol, United Kingdom

Deport all illegal aliens, and stop immigration immediately,
scrap income tax and then we could all get back to work.
Oh yes, and dump this absurd eu nonsense,
British Jobs for British People!

Clive Burghard , LANCING, ENGLAND