Bill Carmichael: Catching up with the leadswingers

CALL me an old cynic but I've always suspected that there may be one or two malingerers among the 2.6 million people who claim incapacity benefits every week.

Thankfully, we live in an age when the general health of the population has never been better, and life expectancy has reached new heights. So it seems inconceivable that almost one in 10 of the working age population is permanently so sick as to be incapable of any kind of meaningful activity.

It didn't earn the nickname "inva-diddly benefit" for nothing. But even I was taken aback by government statistics, released this week, which revealed leadswinging of truly epic proportions.

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More than 75 per cent of those applying for Employment and Support Allowance, which replaced Incapacity Benefit two years ago, had their claims turned down.

Of the 840,000 who tried to claim the 95-a-week benefit, 640,000 were found either to be capable of work or they withdrew their claims when their applications came under scrutiny.

The claims included more than 7,000 people suffering from sexually transmitted diseases and 10,000 who claimed they were too fat to get a job.

Only 51,000 of the applicants were put on the ESA indefinitely, meaning there is no real hope of them ever being able to work again.

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If these results were replicated for all claimants, it would shave

about 8bn off the 12bn a year sickness benefits bill.

Let's get one thing straight – in a decent society sick people who are unable to earn a living should be supported by the state. They have nothing to fear from these new tests. In fact, once the chancers, cheats and thieves have been turned away, there should be more money available to support those cases of genuine hardship.

That is what the welfare state should be all about – a commonwealth of taxpayers who ensure that fellow citizens unlucky enough to fall on hard times are not destitute.

But it is supposed to be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice for

people too idle to get out of bed in the morning.

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The way Labour recklessly allowed the welfare bill to rise over the

last 13 years was entirely unsustainable. If things were allowed to carry on as they were, the benefits budget would eventually

bleed white the wealth-creating sector of society.

The Government is now reassessing those still receiving the old-style incapacity benefit in a programme which started in Aberdeen and Burnley earlier this month.

Reform of this rotten system can't come soon enough.

Strictly a star

The transformation of Ann Widdecombe from evil Tory lady to the nation's favourite spinster has been a remarkable journey.

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The ex-MP and former Conservative minister is probably more accustomed to the jeers and catcalls of the Question Time audience than the standing ovations she has been receiving as the star of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.

But I suspect this won't be a complete surprise to anyone who has actually met her.

A few years ago, Miss Widdecombe kindly agreed to address a group of students for me on the issue of the relationship between politics and the press.

It would be fair to say that most of the students were implacably hostile to her political views and were looking forward to giving her a grilling.

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It didn't work out like that. She combined a fierce intellect with forensic analysis – all without notes, and leavened with charm and good humour.

By the end of the session she had entirely won her audience over.

I'm afraid she's wasted on Strictly.

And when I recall her and other formidable females such as Barbara Castle, Betty Boothroyd, Margaret Beckett and, of course, Margaret Thatcher, it makes me regret that more women, of all political persuasions, don't go into politics.