Britain's new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has confirmed plans to make welfare support "conditional" on people taking work, including claimants receiving mental health support, in his first major broadcast interview since taking office. He said the government must "get really serious" about cutting the welfare bill, while separately warning the NHS would "collapse" without an overhaul of social care, a stance that has sharply divided Independent readers.

Reader reaction split roughly along familiar lines: some argued welfare has been "abused for far too long" and that work is essential to wellbeing and self-respect, while others questioned where jobs, apprenticeships and training would actually come from, noting around a million young people are out of work, education or training. Critics also accused Burnham of echoing his predecessors rather than pursuing genuine Labour reform, pointing to the £38bn spent on housing benefit and suggesting landlords, big corporations and the wealthy should be targeted before support for vulnerable claimants. An Independent poll found just over half of respondents backed cutting the welfare bill, roughly a quarter felt the plan targets the vulnerable, and one in five wanted support improved first.