MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Taming the advantages monster is a troublesome activity – but in addition a noble one

The Prime Minister today makes a hard, non-negotiable pledge to the readers of The Mail on Sunday. He says that he will fix the mess that is our welfare and employment system, and confront the costly monster of welfare fraud, if necessary with the full might of the law – a weapon he knows very well how to wield.

This is excellent news, which must please any patriotic person, and he deserves our support in what he now does – especially as he will no doubt face considerable criticism from his own Left flank.

Actually, old-fashioned Labour was always tough on this issue. It is only in recent decades that it has been lax. Those who work hardest in our country are the ones who most resent the spending of their tax on the undeserving. Our entire society is undermined when benefits, provided from the taxes of the hard-working, are abused.

The PM’s language, as it needs to be, is strong and clear. While he rejects the use of such terms as ‘shirkers’, he acknowledges that there is fraud in our current benefits system, saying: ‘We will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society. We will crack down hard on anyone who tries to game the system, to tackle fraud so we can take cash straight from the banks of fraudsters. Those who try to take advantage of state generosity will feel the force of the law.’ 

Sir Keir declares: ‘I will grip this problem once and for all.’ He also promises the biggest overhaul of employment support in memory. 

He plainly comes from the older socialist tradition which sees work as a virtue. He has little time for the hard-Left tendency, which appears to rejoice in welfare dependency and which believes that taxation is a bottomless well of money.

He confesses that the existing system is failing, and laments that so many young people have not been trained in the skills they need. He is genuinely angered by this waste of potential, which hurts the country as well as the men and women involved. Well and good.

The PM’s language, as it needs to be, is strong and clear. While he rejects the use of such terms as ‘shirkers’, he acknowledges that there is fraud in our current benefits system

The sharp reduction in council housing has resulted in the creation of the monster of Housing Benefit

Several major forces have hugely increased the welfare bill and the linked unemployment problem, and made it difficult to control or reduce them

The disappearance of many major industries since the 1980s has wiped out hundreds of thousands of formerly secure, long-term jobs (Stock Image)

The Mail on Sunday has had its differences with the Starmer Government, and will do so again. That is as it should be in a plural society. But if the PM means what he says and does what he promises, then he will have our enthusiastic support.

Even so, he should not underestimate the difficulty he faces. Several major forces have hugely increased the welfare bill and the linked unemployment problem, and made it difficult to control or reduce them. 

The disappearance of many major industries since the 1980s has wiped out hundreds of thousands of formerly secure, long-term jobs. The old networks of apprenticeship training which were supported by those industries have also gone.

Governments have been readier than they ought to have been to pay sickness benefits on dubious grounds, as this kept down the official unemployment figures and allowed the long-term unemployed more generous payments. 

The sharp reduction in council housing has resulted in the creation of the monster of Housing Benefit. 

The increasing official recognition of mental illness as a barrier to work has also resulted in an expansion of benefits which few could have foreseen even 20 years ago.

The decline in traditional two-parent married families has also left many households dependent on handouts. Getting this under control will be a huge and lengthy task. 

But it is ultimately a noble one. The public will not indefinitely support a welfare system which is riddled with cheating. And the just, real needs of genuine claimants can only be met if we ensure that they go only to the deserving.

Good luck, Sir Keir.