An active welfare state must provide a floor below which no one should be allowed to fall, but its primary role must be to enable people to provide for themselves.

The challenge to our national economies and the collective economy of Europe will become - with the growth of China and the continuing productivity growth of the US - even more intense in the decades to come.

The Civil Service is a vital economic asset to the UK - firstly, in the way it creates a framework for excellence in service delivery and secondly, in how it helps organise the best way to deliver modern public services on which both businesses and individuals depend.

And, in the past, it has been all too easy for legislators to load costs onto business in order to meet broader social goals. And costs for business means costs for consumers.

Greater personal choice, individually tailored services, stronger local accountability, greater efficiency - these are all central to the new direction of travel we have set for our public services.

If you are seriously disabled then we should be looking to do more for you. We are here to help.

If we took Chaucer's writings at face value, we'd have to conclude he was a complete drip.

In households where nobody goes to work, both money and self-esteem can be in short supply. This can mean a lack of positive role models and result in generation after generation getting stuck in the benefits trap.

The internet has become an essential tool for businesses and consumers, and has brought enormous benefits to our everyday lives, but we all know there are risks too,

The best thing for the individuals concerned, and for society as a whole, is to actively encourage those on incapacity benefit who are able to work to get back into work, while providing security and a decent standard of living to those who cannot.