- .The obese, drunks and drug addicts will have to seek help or lose benefits
- .Prime Minister David Cameron wants to cut the welfare budget by £500m
- .He wants sickness benefits cut for those with 'treatable' conditions
- .Mr Cameron believes that 'too many people are stuck on sickness benefits'
- .90,000 people claim they are too obese, drunk or drugged to have a job
Obese people could be forced to get help for their ‘treatable’ condition or have their benefits cut, David Cameron will announce today.
He also wants drug and alcohol addicts on welfare to be made to have treatment so they can get a job.
The proposed overhaul of the benefits system could save Britain £500million a year in sickness payments.
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Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to pull the plug on benefits for obese people or those with other treatable conditions such as alcoholism or drug addiction in a bid to save £500million-a-year in welfare
Christina Briggs, pictured, claimed that she needed additional help from the taxpayer to lose weight
The Prime Minister, who has asked a government health adviser to ‘rapidly’ review the Conservatives’ plans, will claim it is wrong that people are allowed to languish on welfare as a result of their lifestyle ‘choice’.
‘Too many people are stuck on sickness benefits because of issues that could be addressed but instead are not,’ he will say.
‘Some have drug or alcohol problems but refuse treatment. In other cases, people have problems with their weight that could be addressed – but instead a life on benefits rather than work becomes the choice. It is not fair to ask hard-working taxpayers to fund the benefits of people who refuse to accept the support and treatment that could help them get back to a life of work.’
It is not fair to ask hard-working taxpayers to fund the benefits of people who refuse to accept the support and treatment that could help them get back to a life of work
Prime Minister David Cameron
Under one plan being looked at by the party, almost 2,000 people registered as long-term sick because of obesity would face having their benefits docked unless they agreed to lose weight.
Around 56,000 people on the register say their primary condition is alcoholism. Almost 34,000 cite drug dependency. On average these 90,000 people get about £100 a week in sickness benefits and are entitled to other payments, such as housing and council tax benefits.
They are already offered treatment, such as courses and medication, to kick their habit and get back to work. But there is no legal requirement to accept the help.
Dame Carol Black, chairman of the Nuffield Trust and an adviser to the Department of Health, will now examine whether ‘incentives’ are needed.The proposals are likely to anger disability campaigners, who claim government efforts to get the long-term sick back to work have already gone too far.
Dame Carol Black, pictured, will now examine whether 'incentives' are needed to push through the plan
But Dame Carol says: ‘I am deeply interested in trying to overcome the challenges these types of benefit claimants pose.
‘These people, in addition to their long-term conditions and lifestyle issues, suffer the great disadvantage of not being engaged in the world of work – such an important feature of society.’
Mr Cameron will say that the next Conservative government is determined to ensure ‘that the hardest to help’ receive the support they need to improve their lives.
‘That is why I have asked Professor Dame Carol Black to undertake a rapid review into how best to support those suffering from long-term yet treatable conditions back into work.’
- Labour has taken a nine-point lead in the 40 most marginal seats, according to a ComRes poll last night. It put Labour on 40 per cent, the Conservatives on 31, Ukip on 15, the Lib Dems on eight and the Greens on five.
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