DAVID CAMERON pledged to do away with Britain’s “insidious” benefit culture as he unveiled the most radical shake-up of welfare for a generation.

The Prime Minister said coalition reforms would simplify the system, strip benefits from people who repeatedly turn down job offers, and ensure individuals are only classified as disabled if they really cannot work.

He admitted that the changes would be “painful”, but drastic action was necessary because the current provision was not “working”.

“Never again will work be the wrong financial choice. Never again will we waste opportunity,” he said.

“We’re finally going to make work pay – especially for the poorest people in society.”

However, unions accused the Government of punishing people who could not find jobs, while charities warned that society’s most vulnerable would be hardest hit.

Questions were also raised about claims that nobody would be worse off “in cash terms” due to the reforms.

The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has previously estimated that 1.4m working-age families will lose out – although the research ignored transitional arrangements.