ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

David Cameron was today challenged by rising star Tory MPs to tackle “lazy” Britain — and bring in tough new work reforms.

The “young guns” from the new Right of the party called for a culture of “graft, risk and effort” to propel Britain into the “superleague” of nations.

They branded Britons among “the worst idlers” in the world and said the country should emulate the hard work ethic of Asia.

“Too many people in Britain, we argue, prefer a lie-in to hard work,” they said. The call for action is being made by five Tories from the “class of 2010” — Kwasi Kwarteng, Priti Patel, Dominic Raab, Chris Skidmore and Elizabeth Truss.

Their vision, laid out in a new book, Britannia Unchained — Global Growth and Prosperity, will pile pressure on the Prime Minister to step up reforms to boost Britain’s economy.

London Mayor Boris Johnson urged Mr Cameron this week to stop “pussyfooting around” on big infrastructure projects for London including a new airport.

The MPs said that the UK had to raise its work ethic towards that of South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, rather than the office and factory culture in struggling European nations, or risk slipping into grim decline with falling living standards.

“Britain will never be as big as China or Brazil, but we can look forward to a new generation, ready to get to work,” the MPs said. “If we are to take advantage of these opportunities, we must get on the side of the responsible, the hard working and the brave. We must stop bailing out the reckless, avoiding all risk, and rewarding laziness.”

The 184-page tome is due to be published shortly before the Conservatives’ autumn conference. In it, the five deliver a withering verdict on Britain’s work ethic, claiming the State, including high taxes and a generous welfare system, had fuelled laziness.

“Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world,” they said. “We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor.”

The economic crisis should be a “wake-up call” of the need to “rediscover the lost virtue of hard graft”.

They also launch a stinging attack on the baby boom generation for backing high taxes on younger generations so they can keep their pensions and live in comfortable homes.

They warn that the country is being dragged down by a bloated public sector, poor productivity, years of excessive spending, too little growth and increasingly large public sector pension liabilities — and question whether Britain’s political system with the Coalition government at its helm “has the will to truly tackle our debt”.

Mr Kwarteng said: “We need to look beyond Europe for economic success. We should be starting now. There is no reason why we can’t be pushing ahead with a lot of this.

“Boris, when he talks about big infrastructure projects, deregulation and cutting taxes, is absolutely on the money.”

He added: “There is definitely a new Right which is much more international in its focus. The old Tory Right are a busted flush.”

A No 10 spokesman said: “The Government is working hard to get on top of our deficits and rebalance the economy.

“We’ve got the lowest corporation taxes in the G7, have announced huge investment in transport and infrastructure, as well as an £8O billion funding for lending scheme, and there will be more in due course.”