David Cameron will today pledge to lower the benefit cap from £26,000-a-year per family to £23,000 if his party wins the election.The party will also lay out plans to strip 18 to 21-year-olds of jobseeker's allowance and instead given them a six-month limited allowance.
After it runs out they will have to take up an apprenticeship, job or do daily community work for their benefits.
The hope is that an even tougher stance on welfare will appeal to the electorate, as polls suggest the cap has been one of the coalition's most popular policies.
It has been sold as being about fairness, by ensuring no one on benefits earns more than the average working family.
But it has been hugely controversial among charities.
They point out that the families worst affected are those with large numbers of children who would receive a benefit top-up if they were working.
The money saved will be ploughed into three million apprenticeships over the next Parliament.
The policy was meant to be the centrepiece of the first day of the final annual conference before the general election.
But it was overshadowed by news of another defection to UKIP and resignation of a minister over allegations he sent sexually explicit pictures over the internet.
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:05 am