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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Parent plan 'shameful' - Cameron | Parent plan 'shameful' - Cameron |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Tory leader David Cameron has described as "shameful" government proposals to make single mothers with very young children have to prepare for work. | |
| Mr Cameron said it was wrong parents should be put in this position before their children go to school. | Mr Cameron said it was wrong parents should be put in this position before their children go to school. |
| The Tory leader said there was opposition to the idea across the political spectrum and he would work to force ministers to drop it. | The Tory leader said there was opposition to the idea across the political spectrum and he would work to force ministers to drop it. |
| The Tories back Labour's wider plan to get people off benefits and into work. | The Tories back Labour's wider plan to get people off benefits and into work. |
| 'Rotten apple' | |
| They have pledged to support the government's welfare reform bill which will see sanctions, including cuts in benefits, imposed on people who repeatedly turn down jobs or refuse to seek work. | |
| Ministers want virtually everyone, except the seriously ill and disabled and those with children aged under one, to be either seeking work or preparing themselves for an eventual return to the workplace. | |
| Parents with children aged between one and seven will be expected to start preparing for work - for example by tackling health or debt issues, attending work-focused interviews and agreeing an "action plan" to get them back into work. | |
| We need to help families not make life harder for them David Cameron | |
| But Mr Cameron described this idea as "a rotten apple in the barrel". | |
| He said he did not oppose practical proposals to help parents such as debt or drug counselling but the "sensible" time for them to think about work was when their children were at school. | |
| "We need to help families not make life harder for them," he said at his monthly news conference. | |
| He said he suspected the proposal, which is likely be opposed by some Labour MPs, was being driven by a "macho positioning exercise" from ministers which he said was "pretty sick". | |
| "It potentially hits single mothers at a very vulnerable time of their lives," he said, adding he wanted the idea "taken out" of the bill. | |
| Charities have expressed concerns that single mothers with young children could be stigmatised by the proposals while the Lib Dems have said they represent a "step too far". | |
| The Tories have said the government's wider aim of reducing welfare dependency and getting more people into work is right although they have criticised ministers for past inaction. | |
| Ministers have said it is right people should be doing something in return for getting benefits and have pledged extra investment in employment advice and childcare. |