PEOPLE could be forced into jobs they cannot do by “grim” Tory proposals to make jobseekers take jobs in any sector or face financial sanctions, campaigners warned today.

Under the government’s “way to work” campaign, launched today, benefit claimants will be given just four weeks — down from three months — to find a job within their preferred industry.

After that, if they fail to make “reasonable efforts” to secure work or turn down any offer, they will have part of their universal credit payments withdrawn.

Sanctions could theoretically be imposed on people before they had even received their first benefit payment, which can take five weeks to come through.

Labour slammed the move, part of a push to get 500,000 people into work and fill 1.2 million job vacancies, as having “more to do with trying to save the Prime Minister’s job than supporting people.”

The initiative was referenced by under-fire Boris Johnson at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday as he desperately tried to regain control of the political agenda amid the ongoing “partygate” scandal. 

Announcing the policy, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey claimed: “Helping people get any job now means they can get a better job and progress into a career.

“Way to Work is a step-change in our offer to claimants and employers, making sure our jobcentre network and excellent work coaches can deliver opportunities, jobs and prosperity to all areas of the country.”

However the government’s own spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, has found no evidence that benefit sanctions work, concluding they are as likely to make people stop claiming benefits without getting a job as they are to help them find work. 

Up to one million claimants were sanctioned between 2010 and 2016, leading to widespread poverty and suffering.

Sanctions were eased and then temporarily suspended during the first Covid-19 lockdown in spring 2020, but they are now making a comeback. 

Labour shadow employment minister Alison McGovern blasted the announcement as “just tinkering at the edges,” highlighting that long-term unemployment is 60 per cent higher now than before the pandemic.

“People should be supported into good jobs that match their skills, which would give them a better chance of secure work long-term,” she stressed.

“Labour would grow our economy and increase prosperity with our plan to buy, make and sell more in Britain.”

The TUC’s head of economics Kate Bells told the Morning Star: “This isn’t a plan to help people back to work, or a plan to tackle labour shortages — it’s a short-term headline that will only add hardship to families already facing a cost-of-living crisis.

“If ministers want to tackle labour shortages they should get round the table with unions to talk about long-term problems in sectors like logistics and hospitality.”

Disabled People Against Cuts co-founder Linda Burnip also told the Star that the plans will “force someone to go into a job they wouldn’t be able to do.”

The move could have a particularly harsh impact on disabled people, she said, adding ministers “really need to rethink the policy and sit down with disabled people’s organisations and discuss how they can provide real support for people who want to work.”

Anna Stevenson from poverty charity Turn2us said: “At a time where benefit levels are failing to meet people’s rising cost of living, cutting their income further through sanctions is unlikely to prove effective.

“Now is the time for our government to strengthen the social security system so people can afford to put food on the table, look after their families and ultimately thrive.”