The economic secretary to the Treasury says the welfare system needs reform to deliver "targeted support" to help more people get back into work. Emma Reynolds' comments come ahead of an expected announcement on benefits reforms. She adds, "there's been a lot of media speculation about what we're going to do, I would just encourage colleagues to bear with us". Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00We have been clear that we are a Labour government that believes in the dignity of work
00:04and also we're guided by our values of social justice and equality. But the current system
00:10is failing young people, one in eight young people not in employment, education or training,
00:15nearly three million people who are not in work are working age. So we need to reform the system
00:22so it is less binary. At the moment you can either work or not work but there's lots of people who
00:27have got perhaps mental health problems or other reasons that they can't work who need targeted
00:33support to help them back into work and that's what we're determined to deliver. We have been
00:37clear that we will protect the most vulnerable and those with severe disabilities. We are a
00:43Labour government, Labour created the welfare state, we believe fundamentally in the safety net
00:49in protecting the most vulnerable in society. We are in discussions with backbenchers and Labour
00:54MPs week in week out. I think there's been a lot of media speculation about what we're going to do.
01:01I would just encourage colleagues to bear with us and listen to the reforms that Liz
01:07Kendall will set out in detail later this week.