Long suspected, Policy Exchange has dug out the true figures for Brown’s real legacy - the dependency state, destroying the very fabric of the nation, while keeping it hidden.
Comment is superfluous.
Christina
[nb This is in other papers too but given pride of place in the Express] .
DAILY EXPRESS 18.8.09
LABOUR'S HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT: 6M ON THE DOLE
By Gabriel Milland
SIX million people in Britain are living on unemployment benefits, shocking new figures revealed last night.
They mean that almost one in six of the working-age population is now on handouts instead of working for a living.
The crippling cost of the benefits culture is now £193billion a year – up from £93billion in 1997 in payments like Incapacity Benefit and Income Support. That’s nearly double NHS spending.
Details of the milestone figure emerged in a report by think-tank Policy Exchange. Its dram?atic findings blow apart the Government’s own official figures for unemployment rates, leading to possible accusations that Labour is massaging the numbers to keep them as low as possible in the run-up to a General Election.
With the political fall-out from rising joblessness potentially devastating, the Government earlier this month claimed the number of people out of work was 2,435,000 – the highest for 15 years.
But the Policy Exchange figures lay bare the real cost of Labour’s mismanagement of the economy which has caused rapidly-lengthening queues at the dole office.
It found the total number on benefits like Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, carers’ allowances and incapacity benefits stood at over 5.96 million in July.
But that has almost certainly now crept over six million with jobs vanishing at a record rate.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May said: “These figures plainly show ?Labour’s complete failure to get to grips with our welfare system.
“Too many people have been abandoned on out-of-work benefits and now sadly the recession has made their situation even more desperate. The Government should adopt Conservative proposals for bold, radical welfare reform to help these people and their families before it’s too late.”
Using the Government’s own forecasts, the total number on benefits will hit almost 6.5million by the end of this year. And it will rise to 6.8million by December.
Policy Exchange director Neil O’Brien attacked Labour for failing to reform benefits and giving misleading information. He said: “The narrow unemployment figures we are used to seeing tell you less and less about the real number of people who are trapped on benefits.
“To get the full picture you have to look at all the different benefits, including Incapacity Benefit and Income Support. Our unreformed benefits system is too complicated. It gives people too little financial incentive to work, and too little pressure and help to find work. Other countries have successfully reduced the number on benefits. We will need to totally change our system. There’s nothing kind about leaving people to rot on benefits.”
The six-million figure is made up of 1.58million on Jobseeker’s Allowance, 2.6million on incapacity benefits and the new Employment and Support Allowance, 740,000 on lone parents’ benefits, 400,000 on carers’ benefits, 180,000 on income-related benefits, 360,000 on disability benefits and 95,000 on bereavement benefits.
Total joblessness for the under-25s has reached almost one million – equal to one in five. Britain’s youth unemployment figure is now the highest in Europe.
The Department of Work and Pensions said: “Before this recession began, the JSA claimant count was at its lowest level for 30 years. We are investing £5billion to help people back into work and last month alone we helped over 330 thousand people move off unemployment benefits.
“After the number of sick and disabled claiming benefits trebled between 1980 and 2000, it is now falling, with our new Employment and Support Allowance giving people the tailored support they need to get back into work.”
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