Lee Anderson has press convention in stitches with psychological well being quip | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Lee Anderson sparked laughter at a Reform UK press convention as he set out the get together’s new pledges to crack down on abuse of the welfare system. Reform needs to rule out a variety of eligibility standards, such because the circumstances for younger folks signing on to advantages for psychological well being circumstances.

Speaking in Westminster on Wednesday, Mr Anderson mentioned 1.4million persons are claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for psychological well being issues – a 3rd of that are for varied types of anxiousness issues. He defined: “The symptoms of these disorders can include persistent worrying, sadness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and changes in sleep or appetite. Now, who in this room hasn’t suffered from any of the above symptoms? Persistent sadness? Tell me about it.”

“I’ve had persistent sadness since July last year with this awful Labour government, and over the next four years there’ll be many more people having persistent sadness and wanting to put a claim in for PIP.”

Reform’s Zia Yusuf warned there has now been an “enormous growth in PIP payments”, which now account for 1% of the UK’s whole GDP.

Much of this has been pushed by post-Covid claims for psychological well being circumstances, which Reform mentioned is “betraying young people” who’re “being labelled and tossed onto a scrapheap for the rest of their lives”.

Monthly new PIP claims for under-25s have already tripled, because the variety of younger folks on out-of-work illness advantages has climbed by 50% in simply 5 years.

However, that is set to surge additional over the approaching years, rising from £25billion this yr to £34billion by 2029.

Reform mentioned its modifications to the system would stop this rise in prices, saving £9billion a yr by the tip of the last decade, and £30billion over the next 5 years.

Mr Anderson mentioned the “alarm clock generation”, who obtained up within the morning to go to work and assist their households, is being changed by the “anxiety generation”.

He advised the press convention: “Many of you will have heard of the alarm clock generation … a generation that actually got up in the morning listening to their parents’ alarm clocks go off. I used to listen to my dad’s alarm clock go off in the morning at 5am, and he went to do a shift at the local pit.

“And for me, this was the best education a young man could get. It taught me that if you want to live a good life, in a great country, you must do your bit. You must get up in the morning and go to work for your family, your community and your country. And it also taught me that hard work pays.”

Reform’s modifications would finish PIP funds for “non-major anxiety”, which it mentioned would apply to round 80-90% of all anxiousness claimants, transferring these folks onto a Fast Track to Work programme, together with speaking remedy.

They would additionally restore face-to-face appointments for all assessments, which have nonetheless not been introduced again following the Covid lockdowns, and lead to greater approval charges for claims.

The get together would additionally spend a few of the financial savings on reintroducing common reassessments to examine whether or not funds for a situation are nonetheless required.

MIND, the psychological well being charity, was approached for remark.