From today's Scotsman:


"DAVID Cameron yesterday committed the next Conservative government to a massive overhaul of the benefits system.

The Tory leader condemned the present system, which has numerous forms of benefit for various impairments and disabilities. Speaking in Edinburgh during a visit to Capability Scotland, he said that, instead of a range of benefits, each with its own application form, there should be a single benefit.

Mr Cameron, whose son Ivan, four, has cerebral palsy, also called for more incentives to encourage disabled people to work. The Tories have called in a charity, Scope, to advise it on candidate selection and to frame employment policy welcoming applications from the disabled.

In power, the Tories would make employment of the disabled a priority for recruitment throughout the public sector. "It is outrageous for Gordon Brown to argue we have nearly full employment," he said, adding that five million people who could work did not and only 50 per cent of disabled people of working age were in employment.

However, Jim Murphy, the employment minister, countered: "Cameron's inaccurate and irresponsible claims will frighten people whose health conditions mean they need increased support to get back to work, and he will worry mothers by seeming to suggest they should looking for work as soon as their child is born.""