Welfare ministers have been fond of tough talk, but for two decades the words made little dent on the 2.6m-strong sickness benefit roll. Now they might have found a policy instrument to match their rhetoric.

The new sickness benefit test, launched in October, is turning away claimants in droves. Under the old regime the majority of applicants were approved; now the majority are judged fit for work and placed on jobseekers allowance.