THERE are a lot of people in this country who have made a career out of screwing the benefits system because they simply don’t fancy going to work.
Thanks to taxpayers like you and me, thousands have claimed, even though they are perfectly fit to jog down to the Jobcentre.
The idle have lived the life of Riley picking up free NHS prescriptions, dental care, help with energy bills, legal aid, cheaper mobile phone packages and travel discount schemes.
But now the Chancellor says those who are shirking and choosing “to coast” will be caught out.
Jeremy Hunt warned on Thursday: “Anyone choosing to coast on the hard work of taxpayers will lose their benefits.”
And the Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: “If you are fit, if you refuse to work, if you are taking taxpayers for a ride, we will take your benefits away.”
On the surface, the idea sounds brilliant: Claimants deemed fit to work but who fail to take any steps to find employment will be cut off from benefits within six months, while those who are genuinely ill or disabled have nothing to fear.
The Department for Work and Pensions will be in the driving seat with the reforms.
It will help those who can return to the workforce, and those who are sadly too sick to work will receive the benefits they rightly deserve.
Those who are fit enough but refuse to find or accept a job will get nothing. It sounds balanced, fair and long overdue.
But there is one gigantic snag. Somebody needs to work out which category the 2.6million people on long-term sick should be in.
And some of those decision-makers can’t be bothered to actually go into the office to work themselves.
Around half of all civil servants are still working from home months after the pandemic ended, with some departments only getting a third of staff in the office.
Not surprisingly, they are not doing their job efficiently either.
Public sector productivity is at its lowest since 1997.
This week, Whitehall staff were told things need to change and they must spend at least 60 per cent of their time in the office because of the “significant benefits” of working in-person, including “collaboration, innovation, and fostering a sense of community”.
Remember, even that is only three days a week actually in the office.
Surely, with productivity so low, you would think these smart-thinking men and women would want to do everything they can to improve the lives of people living in this country who pay their wages.
But, more importantly, what does this shambles actually say about our Government?
Because if Mr Hunt and his colleagues can’t even crack down on those who “coast’’ in the civil service, what chance have they got of tackling the skivers who are screwing millions out of the benefits system?
ALEX SCOTT has joined the “free the nipple brigade”.
At the GQ Men of the Year awards this week she followed in the footsteps of Florence Pugh and Dua Lipa to show off her nipples in a see-through dress. She looked amazing.
But thank God she did the decent thing and covered up when she presented Children In Need on Friday.
There’s a time and a place.
TONIGHT is the night! The official countdown to Christmas begins with I’m A Celebrity, and what an ace line-up. I am rooting for Josie Gibson.
I love her, all down to earth and honest.
She revealed this week that she’s lost loads of weight through weight training. Unlike Holly Willoughby, who annoyingly refused to tell any of us how she ditched the pounds.
I’m just gutted that Fergie (Sarah, not Sir Alex) isn’t going in the jungle though.
She was teed up for it until telling producers that she wanted an assurance she wouldn’t be asked about Andrew.
What a shame – she would have been absolutely brilliant.
And even though she is – so oddly – loyal to her ex, there would surely have still been some dynamite anecdotes.
“LET’S all go to the pub!”
It’s a phrase I’m partial too and one that could actually die out if we are not careful.
Britain would be a sadder place without friends meeting in the pub for weekend drinks, grub, roaring fires and boozy Sunday lunches.
But hospitality chiefs say one in ten boozers could go out of business if the Chancellor fails to extend business rates relief in next week’s Autumn Statement.
Let’s hope he does the decent thing for those struggling businesses – and for those of us who love a drink in our local.
TOBY Carvery’s new roast sandwich sounds amazing.
A brioche- style bun, turkey, gammon, beef, pork, potatoes, pig in blanket, Yorkshire pud, gravy, stuffing . . . and a dollop of mac and cheese.
It is 888 calories, but who cares? It’s winter and it’s not bikini weather for a good six months.
THE Princess of Wales has revealed her five-year-old son Louis has been using a “feelings wheel” at school, which is full of words that describe emotions.
It is designed by psychologists to help young kids communicate.
Which is a brilliant idea and something they had at my son’s nursery too.
When they first got it, we had several weeks of him feeling “sad” that he couldn’t watch Paw Patrol, “sad” that he had to sleep in his own bed and “very, very sad” that he wasn’t allowed an ice cream.
I wasn’t sad when the sad phase ended.
PEOPLE who donate sperm, eggs and embryos to help others have children could soon lose the right to anonymity from the moment the child is born under proposed changes to UK fertility law.
At the moment, about one fifth of IVF treatment cycles use donors, and the children conceived this way can only apply for their details when they reach the age of 18.
Back in 2005 donors had full anonymity.
I used donor eggs when I was trying to get pregnant and we chose our donor because, in her pen letter, she told us she was a nurse who went to Glastonbury.
She sounded fun, loving and caring, so we picked her.
We dubbed her Glasto Girl. We knew very little more about her and that’s the way we – and I am sure, she – liked it. We will always be grateful for her help and kindness.
I understand that some people want more – they want pictures, details, medical history.
But I hope they leave the law just as it is, or at least give these selfless donors the choice.
Because this potential change could have a dreadful impact on the number of men and women who are willing to donate at a time when their generosity is so hugely needed.
SOUNDS to me like Strictly pro Karen Hauer has had a lucky escape.
She was given a £60 H. Samuel engagement ring by Jordan Wyn-Jones and after their marriage broke down she sent what she thought was a family heirloom back to her former partner.
But Jordan’s dad has now spoken out, saying his son took the heirloom without permission and very much doubts Jordan will ever give it back.
I’m not surprised she told her ex to foxtrot off!
WHAT a legend Radio 2 presenter Vernon Kay is.
He completed an ultra-marathon of 116 miles in four days, raising more than £5million for Children In Need.
And when he finished in his home town of Bolton, he refuelled with a pastie. Brilliant!
