Britain is a nation addicted to benefits.

We have developed a welfare system that rewards worthlessness and punishes hard work. And the Government is set to make the problem worse.

The latest in a series of leaks ahead of next week’s Budget has revealed that welfare spending is set to rise by 3.8 per cent increasing the benefits bill by £6 billion.

This comes days after The Daily Telegraph revealed that of the 8 million people living on benefits, 4 million are under no obligation to look for work.

DWP data show there are 2.2 million Universal Credit claimants on long-term sick leave, the majority for mental health reasons.

This is a seven-fold increase since the pandemic, which exacerbated the something-for-nothing culture dominating Britain today.

Between April and June of this year, nearly 3.4 million people born outside the UK claimed benefits.

This includes Universal Credit, housing benefits, disability allowance, child benefit, pension subsidies and carer allowances. This culture of worthlessness is simply not sustainable.

Moreover, figures say Britain’s welfare benefit spending, excluding pensions, in 2024/25 was £137.4billion.

Next year this is expected to rise to £141.2 billion. What is the effect on working people?

Despite news today showing a small decrease in inflation, living costs are still rising.

Essential costs: food, energy, utility bills, clothing are rising faster than wages can keep up.

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Even the left-leaning Resolution Foundation talks of a comfort crunch, particularly for lower-income working families who are forced to spend a much higher proportion of their income on essential living costs than ever before, squeezing the standard of living for people who work.

Citizens Advice data show a significant proportion of people in part-time work are living on a negative budget.

Yesterday, Kemi Badenoch moved the Conservative vision back to its traditional goal of sound finances.

Meanwhile, Reform’s head of policies, Yusuf, announced Reform spending plans which included stripping EU citizens of rights to benefits, which it says will save the taxpayer £20 billion a year.

Both Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage are taking the right approach to the nation’s finances.

Those who pay for the benefits will have their income tax threshold frozen again, and will then face inflation-linked duty increases on alcohol and probably fuel.

They are being made worse off, while the shirkers who live off them are being protected.

The Left never had a monopoly on fairness, but now it’s actively promoting unfairness against those who work in favour of those who idle.