"People in this country expect me to protect the benefits system from abuse and protect the money of hardworking taxpayers.
'So I will not stand by while the European Commission tries to water down the valuable protections we've put in place.
'I will fight this every step of the way, I will not cave in and I will continue to work on strengthening our benefit system in the meantime to ensure it is not open to abuse by anyone." I.D.S.