There is nothing people can throw at me to say: 'Do this, do that.'

Kids are meant to believe that their stepping stone to massive money is 'The X Factor.'

People work hard.

We have to challenge the whole idea that it’s acceptable for a society like Britain to have such a significant number of people who do not work one day of the week and don’t have any possibility of improving the quality of their lives.

What we want to do is reform the welfare system in the way that Tony Blair talked about 13 years ago but never achieved – a system that was created for the days after the Second World War. That prize is now I think achievable.

Look, I’ve always said from the word go many years ago that I felt the whole bonus culture, they need to think very carefully about being detached from the rest of the British public.

My view is pensioners don’t have the one option that people of working age have. They can’t really increase their income, because they are no longer able to work.

With high underemployment – currently over one million part-time workers in the UK want to work more hours – sanctioning clients who cannot increase their hours seems to be both unworkable and unfair.

Even as our economy starts to pick up, and new jobs are created, there is a risk that young people in Britain won’t get the chances they deserve because businesses will continue to look elsewhere.

Work is transformative. It gives you a greater chance of a greater income. You can affect your life while you’re of working age, so you have scope and opportunity. Pensioners do not.