THE notion of the government leaving jobless youngsters penniless for six months by stopping all their benefit may seem cruel, but since this proposal is aimed at the indolent core who repeatedly refuse to participate in the welfare-to-work New Deal programme, then it can only be described as commendable.

For to qualify for this strict sanction, its victims will have already had their £40.70-a-week Job Seekers' Allowance stopped for a fortnight for rejecting offers of a job or training under the New Deal scheme and then had it stopped for a month for having refused for a second time.

In short, it is the serially shiftless that this three-strikes-and-you're-out penalty is aimed at.

And do not all youngsters - and the lay-abouts above all - need to be taught at the outset that the welfare system is designed for help and not for something-for-nothing handouts?

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