People who are fit to work but do not accept job offers will have their benefits taken away after 12 months, the prime minister has pledged.

Outlining his plans to reform the welfare system if the Conservatives win the next general election, Rishi Sunak said “unemployment support should be a safety net, never a choice” as he promised to “make sure that hard work is always rewarded”.

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Mr Sunak said his government would be “more ambitious about helping people back to work and more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life” by introducing a raft of measures in the next parliament. They include:

• Removing benefits after 12 months for those deemed fit for work but who do not comply with conditions set by their work coach – such as accepting a job offer

• Tightening the work capability assessment so those with less severe conditions will be expected to seek employment

• A review of the fit note system to focus on what someone can do, to be carried out by independent assessors rather than GPs

• Changes to the rules so someone working less than half of a full-time week will have to look for more work

• A consultation on PIP to look at eligibility changes and targeted support – such as offering talking therapies instead of cash payments

• The introduction of a new fraud bill to treat benefit fraud like tax fraud, with new powers to make seizures and arrests.

He insisted the changes were not about making the benefits system “less generous”, adding: “I’m not prepared to balance the books on the backs of the most vulnerable.

“Instead, the critical questions are about eligibility, about who should be entitled to support and what kind of supports best matches their needs.”

But Labour said it was the Tories’ handling of the NHS that had left people “locked out” of work, and a disabled charity called the measures “dangerous”.

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The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows 9.4 million people aged between 16 and 64 were “economically inactive”, with over 2.8 million citing long-term sickness as the reason.

Mr Sunak said 850,000 of them had been signed off since the COVID pandemic and half of those on long-term sickness said they had depression, with the biggest growth area being young people.

He also claimed the total being spent on benefits for people of working age with a disability or health condition had increased by almost two-thirds since the pandemic to £69bn – more than the entire budget for schools or policing.

“I will never dismiss or downplay the illnesses people have,” said the prime minister. “Anyone who has suffered mental ill health or had family and friends who have know these conditions are real and they matter.

“But just as it would be wrong to dismiss this growing trend, so it would be wrong to merely sit back and accept it because it’s too hard, too controversial, or for fear of causing offence.”

The prime minister said he knew critics would accuse him of “lacking compassion”, but he insisted “the exact opposite is true”, adding: “There is nothing compassionate about leaving a generation of young people to sit in the dark before a flickering screen, watching as their dreams slip further from reach every passing day.

“And there is nothing fair about expecting taxpayers to support those who could work but choose not to.

“It doesn’t have to be like this. We can change. We must change.”

But Labour said the “root cause of economic activity” was down to the Tories’ failure on the health service, with record NHS waiting lists hitting people’s ability to get back in the workplace.

Acting shadow work and pensions secretary Alison McGovern said: “After 14 years of Tory misery, Rishi Sunak has set out his failed government’s appalling record for Britain: a record number of people locked out of work due to long-term sickness and an unsustainable spiralling benefits bill.

“Rather than a proper plan to get Britain working, all we heard today were sweeping questions and reheated proposals without any concrete answers.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called it “a desperate speech from a prime minister mired in sleaze and scandal”, adding: “Rishi Sunak is attempting to blame the British people for his own government’s failures on the economy and the NHS and it simply won’t wash.”

Meanwhile, disability charity Scope said the measures were a “full-on assault on disabled people”, adding they were “dangerous and risk leaving disabled people destitute”.

James Taylor, director of strategy at the charity, said calls were already “pouring in” to their helpline with people concerned about the impact on them, adding: “Sanctions and ending claims will only heap more misery on people at the sharp end of our cost of living crisis.”

Tesla has recalled more than 3,800 of its Cybertruck models following complaints that the accelerator pedal is at risk of getting stuck, US regulators have announced.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had contacted the carmaker, founded and run by Elon Musk, about the issue earlier in the week.

That was after a video came to light, on the billionaire entrepreneur’s X platform and TikTok, showing how a rubber cover attached to the accelerator could come loose, pinning the pedal down.

It has since been watched millions of times on both platforms.

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Tesla was widely reported to have temporarily halted sales and deliveries after being contacted by the NHTSA.

The regulator said a total of 3,878 Cybertrucks were affected by the recall.

Tesla started deliveries of its Cybertruck electric pickup truck late last year, after a two-year delay due to production problems and battery-supply constraints.

The EV maker will replace or repair the accelerator pedal assembly at no charge and owners will be notified through letters mailed to them in June, the NHTSA said.

Cybertruck owner Jose Martinez told Sky’s US partner network NBC News how he was driving his new Cybertruck of just six days on his local drag strip in southern California when the car started accelerating on its own.

He said: “The moment I let go of the brake, it would lurch forward at full throttle again.

“I had space where I could figure out what was going on. It wasn’t a situation where there were cars in front of me or a building or a tree.”

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He later filmed the video which went viral, to demonstrate the issue and said he had performed a temporary fix by simply removing the rubber cover on the pedal.

“Other than this, it’s a pretty solidly built car,” Martinez continued.

“I know saying ‘other than this’ makes it sound like it’s not major, and it is.”

“Because it is such a massive car, and it’s got such a great amount of power, I do feel like things in regard to safety definitely need to be a priority in getting it addressed and fixed,” he added.

There was a worse than expected performance for retail sales last month, defying predictions of a consumer-led pick up from recession for the UK economy.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported sales volumes were flat in March, following an upwardly revised figure of 0.1% for the previous month.

It said sales at non-food stores helped offset declines at supermarkets.

Sales of fuel rose by 3.2%.

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ONS senior statistician Heather Bovill said of the overall picture: “Retail sales registered no growth in March.

“Hardware stores, furniture shops, petrol stations and clothing stores all reported a rise in sales.

“However, these gains were offset by falling food sales and in department stores where retailers say higher prices hit trading.

“Looking at the longer-term picture, across the latest three months retail sales increased after a poor Christmas.”

While the performance will not damage the expected exit from recession during the first quarter of the year, it suggests that consumers are still carefully managing their spending.

While the cost of living crisis – exacerbated by the Bank of England’s interest rate rises to push inflation down – has severely damaged budgets, wage growth has been rising at a faster pace than prices since last summer.

Separate ONS data this week has shown the annual rate of inflation at 3.2% – with wages growing at a rate of 6% when the effects of bonuses are stripped out.

Economists widely believe consumer spending power will win through as the year progresses, despite borrowing costs remaining at elevated levels.

A measure of consumer confidence released on Friday showed confidence had increased for a sixth consecutive quarter to its highest level since the summer of 2021.

Deloitte’s measure showed an increase of 6.5 percentage points on this time last year.

Its survey cited an improvement in personal finances as inflation eased.

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The company’s consumer insight lead Celine Fenech said of its findings: “It is encouraging to see that consumers are feeling more confident in their personal finances – particularly younger consumers.

“Many consumers are paying less for essentials such as utility bills… however, spending on non-essential goods and services dropped this quarter, meaning that improving confidence is not yet translating to a significant boost to spending, and cautious optimism is required.”

She added: “Consumer confidence at its highest level in two-and-a-half years combined with the weather hopefully improving, should signal a brighter outlook for the consumer sector.”