Helen Whately: “We believe that if you can work, you should. And work should always pay better than benefits.”

Faced with a choice between spending on military training and spending on benefits... Labour chooses more benefits.

We must, of course, look after people too sick to disabled to work. We’re a civilised society. We’re compassionate. We want a safety net to be there for people in desperate need.

Making Britain your home should be earned by working, paying tax and integrating. It should not come with a free ride on the benefits system. Britain cannot be a cash machine for the world.

Too many young people are leaving school and signing straight onto benefits - this is a waste of their potential and a disaster for our economy.