Keir Starmer has said he believes that people claiming long-term sickness benefits should be expected to look for work.

He added that there would be “hard cases” and that the government and businesses should help those who may feel anxious about re-entering the workplace, but that the “basic proposition that you should look for work is right”.

The prime minister was speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, following his party conference speech in which he said he wanted to “level” with the country about the “trade-offs” people would face.

He told Labour activists: “If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud, do everything we can to tackle worklessness.”

Following the speech, he was asked in an interview with the Today programme if he agreed with the proposition that virtually no-one should claim benefits without trying to get back to work.

“The basic proposition that you should look for work is right,” he replied.

“People need to look for work, but they also need support.

“That’s why I’ve gone out to look at schemes where businesses are supporting people back into work from long-term sickness.

“Quite often, I think what lies behind this is a fear for someone who’s been on long term sickness that – ‘can they get back into the workplace? Are they going to be able to cope? Is it all going to go hopelessly wrong?'”

The inactivity rate – the number of people out of work and not looking for a job – surged during the Covid pandemic and has since remained at a persistently high level.

Nearly 3 million people are out of work due to ill health, a 500,000 increase on 2019.

The Office for Budget Responsibility says the cost of sickness and disability benefits will increase by £30bn in the next five years.

Following Sir Keir’s conference speech, Labour announced that doctors, expert in speeding up operations, would be sent to areas with the highest number of people out of work due to ill health.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting set out the measure to Labour activists on the last day of the conference in Liverpool.

He said “the best of the NHS” would help “get sick Brits back to health and back to work”.

Speaking to the BBC, the prime minister was also pressed on other trade-offs he listed in his speech including the argument that the public had to accept pylons if they wanted cheaper electricity.

He said people with concerns should be listened to but added: “We want cheaper electricity, we need cheaper power, we can’t pretend that can be done without the need for pylons above the ground.

“Politics is about being honest with people, saying: ‘If you want xyz then we are going to have to do the following things’.”

On illegal migration, Sir Keir said there was a backlog of tens of thousands of asylum seekers waiting to have their claim processed, while the government was paying for their accommodation.

He accused the previous Conservative government of “pretending there’s some magical way to wish away that number”.

He said his government would process the backlog and return those who had no right to be in the UK.

“But I was being clear, if you have that process, there will be people who are processed, who then are able to claim asylum.”

Around 97,000 people claimed asylum in the year to the end of June 2024, with the largest number coming from Afghanistan. Other nationalities applying in large numbers include those from Iran, Pakistan, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh.

In the same year, 7,190 people who were not granted asylum were returned to their home country.

One of the prime minister’s first decisions was to scrap the Conservative government’s Rwanda scheme, which aimed to deter people trying to get to the UK illegally by crossing the Channel in small boats.

The prime minister dismissed the policy as an expensive gimmick and have instead said they want to tackle the smuggling gangs that arrange the crossings.