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Benefit claimants could be forced to sign on every day and join mandatory out-of-work programmes, James Purnell said today.

The work and pensions secretary told MPs that there should be "no choice between claiming and working".

"The longer people claim the more we will expect in return…Work works and it is only fair we make sure a life on benefits is not an option," he said in a Commons statement.

"For the 2% who we anticipate to be still out of work after two years, we will explore mandatory full-time work programmes and other approaches such as daily signing."

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