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Telegraph
32 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Reform welfare or become a failed state: that is Britain's only remaining choice
Whitney Ainscough boasts that she makes £500,000 a year through her social media posts. Those posts essentially tell people what to say to exploit the welfare rules. The mother of three from Rotherham walks her subscribers through the buzz words and correct answers to give in order to be awarded benefits. In one post, she revelled in the fact that she was herself being given £1,151.90 a week by taxpayers. 'Why would I get a job?' she asked. 'I get your monthly wage in a week – so why would I put myself out and get a job? I mean, I'm living my f***ing best life!' Ms Ainscough is one of an army of online 'sickfluencers': people who make a living out of coaching others on how to qualify for benefits. In his recent Channel 4 documentary, Fraser Nelson met a consultant who charged £750 for a three-hour session on how to qualify for the maximum allocation on incapacity or disability payments. That is an hourly rate not far off some London KCs. Yet, such are the perverse incentives created by our benefits system that, for many would-be claimants, it is a reasonable up-front investment. If you have paid taxes throughout your working life, you may be shaking with anger as you read. The realisation that middle-men – or, more often, middle-women – are getting rich by steering people towards undeserved payments is infuriating. But sickfluencers are the by-products of our rotten system, not its authors. If we don't keep the kitchen clean, we can hardly blame the bacteria. As Charlie Munger liked to say, 'Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome'. Like the Channel people traffickers, sickfluencers are facilitators. They service a demand created by perverse incentives. In the one case, a benefits system which, according to the Centre for Social Justice, will soon let people earn £2,500 more than the minimum wage; in the other, an asylum system where judges seek always and everywhere to overturn deportation orders. We blame the people traffickers because we don't like to dwell on the fact that the migrants who pay them are criminals. We think of ourselves as compassionate, and so don't enjoy asking why genuine refugees would be desperate to leave France. In the same way, blaming sickfluencers allows us not to insult claimants – some of whom are indubitably disabled, and all of whom vote. Why, then, did I begin the column with Ms Ainscough? You, after all, are a reader of the nation's leading quality newspaper. His Majesty's Telegraph is not a sensationalist tabloid. Should I not be persuading you with facts and figures rather than making your blood boil with stories of a benefits claimant who holidays in Cyprus and films her posts from behind the wheel of what looks like a Range Rover? Maybe. But here's the problem. The numbers don't stir people to the pitch of emotion which, on their merits, they should. Perhaps they are simply too large. I always found, as an MEP, that telling people that the EU was wasting £10 billion on this or that project would elicit a resigned shrug, whereas telling them that I could pay my wife £14,000 a month prompted purple, choking fury. We can all imagine what we would do with £14,000. If people truly understood what the figures implied, there would be no more immediate issue in politics. Those Labour MPs who voted down the mildest attempt to slow the increase in incapacity benefits would, instead of complimenting themselves on their big-heartedness, be fending angry mobs from their constituency surgeries. Consider, one more time, some of the statistics. Around 3,000 people a day are signed off as too sick to work. The total number of claimants is forecast by the government to go from 3.3 million to 4.1 million by the end of this parliament. According to the NHS Confederation, in 2021-22, 63,392 people went straight from university onto long-term sickness benefits. The fastest rise is among 25- to 34-year-olds, an incredible increase of 69 per cent in five years. (Incredible in every sense: such a sudden and cataclysmic explosion in disability would surely be visible on the streets.) In Birmingham, one in four working-age adults is inactive. One. In. Four. Even at the height of the Great Depression, the proportion in our second city never rose so high. Then, mass worklessness was treated as the most important challenge facing the nation; now, we barely notice. Behind each of those numbers is someone trapped in the system, scared to find a job and paradoxically lose income, possibly bringing up children in a household severed from the rhythms of a working day. If the waste of human potential does not bother you, consider the viability of the British state. The total cost of benefits has risen from £244 billion a year on the eve of the pandemic to £303 billion (adjusting for inflation). No other country has seen anything like it. In Europe, as in the Anglosphere, claims fell when lockdown ended. If we look, not simply at benefits, but at state salaries, too, there are as many people claiming money from the government as supplying it: 28 million in each category. But that does not mean that the sums are in balance. To meet its obligations, the government is borrowing £150 billion a year. At the same time, it is spending £55 billion a year on disability and incapacity benefits – a sum that will rise to £70 billion by the end of this parliament. What went wrong? The baleful one-word answer, as so often, is 'lockdown'. The pandemic brutally exposed the inadequacies of the British state, its poor analysis, its safetyism, its authoritarian tendencies. But the government turned out to be good at one thing, namely giving money to people. A lot of workers who had never before been in contact with the benefits system learnt how easy it was to make claims. Some began to see work as a lifestyle choice. At the same time, face-to-face benefits interviews were replaced by telephone assessments, where claimants find it much easier to lie. This was supposed to be a temporary measure but, across the civil service, officials have continued to work from home and, five years on, over 70 per cent of benefits assessments are being made remotely. Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome. The surge in long-term benefits under Gordon Brown was tackled after 2010 by a combination of benefits caps and tax cuts. When work paid more, more people worked. This time, though, taxes and unemployment are rising, creating very different incentives. Meanwhile, as predicted in this column, figures now confirm that the economy shrank in the last quarter. In the dry language of the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government 'cannot afford the array of promises that it has made to the public'. Is anyone proposing to do anything about it? Actually, yes. Kemi Badenoch made a thoughtful and serious speech on Thursday explaining how she planned to cut the bills, including bringing the legal definition of disability into line with what most of us understand by the word, and ending claims by foreign nationals, which currently cost a billion pounds a month. The rise of Reform means that the Conservatives have little option but to position themselves as the only party that stands for fiscal responsibility, enterprise and limited government. Although that position may attract less than 50 per cent of the electorate, it attracts more than the 18 per cent that the Tories are currently polling. In any case, it is the right thing to do. Labour's inability to slow, let alone halt, the rise in bills is dooming Britain to a full-scale budgetary and currency crisis. The Conservatives need to provide the diagnosis now so that, when the crash happens, the electorate is ready to gulp down its medicine.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Too hot for some! Sunworshippers trade blows in Bournemouth beach brawl as bouncers struggle to contain the violence
Stunned sun-seekers looked on in horror as a mass brawl between a group of topless lads sparked mayhem on one of Britain's busiest beaches. The chaos reportedly erupted on Friday evening on the stretch of coastline next to Bournemouth Pier. Almost a dozen people clashed on the sand as tempers boiled over and the mercury approached a sweltering 30C. Captured by a sunworshipper, the brawling beach-goers were filmed stumbling and swinging wildly at one another as they came to blows. But the fight appeared to turn into a farce as the battling gaggle of men struggled to keep on their feet as they chased around after each other, throwing haymakers. People laughed as one man charged at another male, bumping into him before his opponent wobbles, loses his balance and toppled to the floor. The melee continues, with another man seen stumbling around before then getting shoved unceremoniously to the floor. As he gets up, another is seen to throw a wild hooking-style punch behind him - which fails to connect with anything and sends the man tumbling to the send. Meanwhile, two bouncers are filmed desperately struggling to contain the mayhem. The fight is the latest flashpoint of anti-social carnage to ignite on the beach in recent days. Earlier this week, Dorest Police released CCTV footage of 12 men they were hunting to identify following a beach brawl between topless youths. The incident again took place near the coastal resort's pier, just before 7.30pm on June 30. Footage posted online showed shirtless yobs fighting among themselves and clashing with cops, with some seen hurling objects and attacking them with bottles. Missiles appeared to be thrown at police and glass could be heard smashing on the ground as terrified daytrippers watched on in horror. Five police officers were injured during the chaos, as well as a teenage girl who was taken to hospital for treatment. Their injuries were not serious. A man, 22, from Newbury, Berkshire, who was previously arrested on suspicion of assault by beating of an emergency worker was released on bail as enquiries continue. Another man, 18, from Hackney, east London, was later arrested on suspicion of assault, affray and assault by beating of an emergency worker and remains in custody. The fight sparked a new anti-social behaviour crackdown, which comes into effect this weekend in Bournemouth. It comes as temperatures are set to skyrocket to more than 30C. Anyone who gets a bit too merry on the coastal stretch faces being slapped with fines, and having their alcohol seized. Dorset Police has revealed it is deploying extra patrols around Bournemouth seafront this weekend, as thousands are expected to descend on the sandy beach. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council and Dorset Police have revealed they plan to use a range of measures to prevent the violence from happening again. Chief Superintendent Heather Dixey said: 'Violence and disorder on Bournemouth beach will absolutely not be tolerated and anyone who is identified as being involved will be robustly dealt with.' As well as seizing alcohol, police will take away nitrous oxide and other illegal substances from beach-goers causing trouble. Officers will also ask disruptive sun-seekers to leave the beach, where necessary. A public space protection order has been put in place for the coastline from Sandbanks to Highcliffe, and gives police the power to deal with yobs who are aggressive, urinate in public, swear, play loud music or light a BBQ between 7am and 6pm. MailOnline has approached Dorset Police for comment about the brawl on Friday.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Police find at least NINE suspicious devices after shooting gas mask-clad plumber as he wielded chainsaw
Police have found at least nine suspicious devices at the scene where they shot a gas mask-clad plumber as he wielded a chainsaw. Sean O'Meara, 36, was targeted by officers during an arrest on suspicion of assault at his parents' home in the village of Hollingbourne, Kent, on Monday evening. Kent Police believed the suspect, who was also wearing body armour, was holding an improvised firearm or improvised explosive device (IED). After he refused to leave the property opposite The Park Gate Inn when police were first called at around 7.15pm, armed officers were deployed, who shot at around 9pm. Officers called on an explosive ordnance disposal team to the scene outside the country pub - but they are not treating this as a terror incident. The suspect, as of Saturday, remains in hospital with 'life-changing' injuries, in an induced coma, following the chainsaw 'falling on him'. Shocking pictures of the scene near Maidstone show heavy protective clothing and a robot used by the bomb squad to deal with the terrifying incident. Parts of the nearby A20 were closed across several days as the bomb squad searched the area but the road has now fully re-opened. Two baton rounds were reportedly fired at O'Meara but failed to subdue him - before an officer discharged a conventional firearm. It was confirmed on Thursday officers had found 'at least four' suspicious devices in the area. O'Meara's half-brother, Liam, said he is currently being treated at King's College Hospital in London. He claimed his brother has 'mental health problems', adding he believes police used unreasonable force and officers could have instead shot him in the leg or tasered him. He told The Telegraph: 'When he was shot, most of the damage was when he dropped the chainsaw and it fell on him. 'The bullet's gone straight in and out so it hasn't caused many problems.' But he believes his brother now could possibly lose the ability to use his arm. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched an investigation into the officer-involved shooting. 'We have been advised by Kent Police that unarmed officers attended the house at around 7.15pm to arrest a man on suspicion of assault', the IOPC said. 'He refused to come out of the house so the officers were instructed to withdraw and armed officers were then deployed. 'We have seen officers' body worn footage which shows the man, aged in his mid-30s, holding a chainsaw and another object in his hand, which, at the time, officers believed appeared to be a handmade firearm or IED (improvised explosive device). 'He was also wearing a gas mask and body armour. We can confirm a first baton round was fired by police and the man then took cover behind a hedge. 'Officers moved in and a police dog was deployed. 'The man ignored orders to put down the chainsaw and a second baton round was discharged and then, seconds later, he moved towards officers and was shot by an officer with a conventional firearm. 'A detailed search of the scene continued today and among the weapons found at the scene were a chainsaw and a device which was made safe by the bomb squad (EOD).' A 100-metre cordon was put in place around the pub across from the property following the incident. Dramatic aerial footage captured armoured vehicles parked up outside the property securing the area. Chief Superintendent Neil Loudon, West Divisional Commander for Kent Police, said: 'This has been a complex investigation and we appreciate that the intermittent closure of the A20 caused disruption to many. 'We would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding whilst we conducted these vital searches.' He previously said: 'At this current time, there is nothing to suggest a wider threat to the Hollingbourne community, but we have found at least four suspicious devices at the scene and it is important that the area is made safe.' A Kent Police spokesperson said on Friday: 'Intermittent road closures on the A20 will continue throughout the day on Friday, July 11, whilst ongoing enquiries continue in Hollingbourne. 'This is following a police shooting which took place on Monday, July 7, 2025. 'Given the nature of the enquires that are currently taking place parts of the A20 will be required to be closed for short periods of time. 'The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team are attending the scene to carry out further searches of the area. 'Motorists are advised to find alternative routes until further notice, and we would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding at this time.' It followed a brief statement from the force on Wednesday afternoon, saying cops had been carrying out an arrest when an armed officer opened fire.
