Britain’s welfare state is so lax even I would qualify for disability benefits, blasts government’s own social care tsar

A SENIOR Government tsar says Britain’s welfare state is so lax even she would qualify as disabled. Baroness Louise Casey said too many are now on sickness hand-outs and “I don’t buy it”. Baroness Louise Casey says Britain’s welfare state is so lax even she would qualify as disabled Credit: Steve Back The baroness says too many are now on sickness hand-outs Credit: Alamy Up to 17million people are classed as disabled, with 6.9million claiming disability benefits. Those benefits are expected to cost taxpayers £41billion per year by the end of the decade. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Baroness Casey, who is leading PM Andy Burnham’s review into social care, told the BBC: “I would qualify, and I’m sitting here right now. “I’m not disabled, but I could qualify if I answered questions based on my medical records — it’s simple as.” And she said: “Something like 16.8million people answered questions that took you to a point that they would be classified by the Department for Work and Pensions as disabled. “I don’t buy it.” It came as the PM braced taxpayers for “difficult decisions” to fund adult social care, saying he could not forgive himself if he failed to fix the broken system. Mr Burnham said he would first try to drive reform within existing budgets but would be “honest with people” if more cash was needed. Most read in The Sun The PM, whose father has dementia, said the failure of successive governments to tackle social care has been a “major dereliction of duty”. He warned: “Some of what we’d want to do in the fullest sense will require difficult decisions. “But we will be honest with people about those. “We will put them before the country at the right time, and we will hopefully proceed with people’s consent.” He has held a meeting with the Tories and Lib Dems to find “common ground” on the issue, but snubbed Reform. Comment now