Judges dealt another massive blow to the Con-Dem slave labour drive yesterday, ruling emergency laws to shore up the back-to-work scheme unlawful.

Ministers were forced to draft emergency legislation after its back-to-work policies, a flagship of its all-out onslaught on welfare forcing jobseekers to work for nothing or lose their benefits, were found to be legally flawed by the Court of Appeal.

The unanimous 2011 ruling decided that regulations had failed to give the unemployed enough detailed information, especially about sanctions.