Campaigners issued stark warnings today about the impact of tougher sanctions on benefit claimants who refuse work planned under Government welfare reforms.

A radical shake-up of out of work benefits represents a "fair deal" for both the jobless and the taxpayer, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said today.

Unemployed people who refuse to take up offers of work will lose their jobless benefits for three years under tough new sanctions to be announced today.

In one respect this Government is following the last: in drip-feeding to the media some of its more controversial proposals before presenting them formally to Parliament. Yesterday's disclosure that this week's White Paper on welfare reform will include a requirement for the long-term unemployed to do some unpaid work was a classic of the kind – and what a predictable furore it unleashed.

The Government today dismissed talk of a climbdown over capping housing benefit today despite warnings that the policy will "cleanse" poor people from major cities.

The state pension could be increased to about £140 a week under Government plans to ensure everybody has a "decent" income in retirement.

Analysis

The Chancellor announced more welfare reforms, including a fresh crackdown on benefit fraud, aimed at making £7 billion worth of cuts on top of previously announced savings of £11 billion.

Baroness Thatcher was forced to pull out of a Downing St party organised to mark her 85th birthday last night after falling ill with the flu.

Yet many big departments are still in talks over scale of cuts

The party conferences are over for another year, but were you paying attention? Our quiz sorts the political nerds from the know-nothings (answers at the bottom of the page)

Together, these measures signal the end of the child-centred tax and benefits system so dear to Gordon Brown and a return to government for grown-ups

The Conservative gathering in Birmingham this week was expected to be the smoothest of all the annual party conferences. In the end, it turned into the roughest. A ferocious row over ending child benefit payments for top-rate taxpayers has overshadowed all else this week. And that left David Cameron with a considerable job to do when he rose to speak yesterday.

Fears of revolt over 'bungled' handling of reform by Prime Minister and Chancellor