A HANDBRAKE should be pulled to stem the rise of 1,000 benefit claimants signing on sick every day, Sir Tony Blair’s think-tank says.
The former Prime Minister’s organisation piled pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to get a grip on the spiralling welfare bill.
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Tony Blair’s think-tank has piled pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to get a grip on the spiralling welfare bill Credit: AFP
The Tony Blair Institute said without action, spending on working-age health and disability benefits will hit £73billion by the end of the decade — hitting defence spending levels.
Among measures it suggests are automatically halting claims made for mild depression and anxiety.
Ryan Wain, for the TBI, said: “No longer attracting cash payments by default, pulling this handbrake would free up resources for better mental health support.
“It would keep people in work who benefit from the purpose it brings.”
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Labour attempted to cut the benefits bill last July but were forced to abandon plans after a rebellion from mutinous MPs.
Polling from YouGov, commissioned by the think-tank, showed nearly half of people believe that too many conditions are listed as work-limiting.
Charity Mencap said the Institute’s “unhelpful and ill- informed” study “ignores the lived reality of people with a learning disability”.
A Government spokesman said they are looking to fix the system “through reforms with opportunity at their heart.”
Council’s UC perks
A LABOUR-run council offers Universal Credit recipients free airport parking or insurance for holidays and cut-price yoga lessons.
Calderdale Council, in West Yorks, also provides rock climbing lessons and cheap cinema tickets through its free Passport to Leisure scheme.
You do not have to live in the area to join the initiative, which is open to some asylum seekers.
The council, where 30,581 get UC, said some scheme discounts were offered by local firms.
