Jobless must earn their benefits says John Bird

Monday 21st of June 2010

John Bird, Founder & Editor in Chief of The Big Issue, has written to David Cameron urging him to cut state benefits.

In his letter to the Prime Minister Mr Bird urges him to take measures which oblige the unemployed to become involved in community work in order to improve their life skills and readiness for work.  

It is his firm belief that long term benefit dependency is responsible for a great many ills in society, including the creation of an underclass lacking in motivation or aspiration. 

“That’s not only damaging to individuals, it’s damaging to society. The illegal drugs industry would be lost without the support of the welfare state,” he told the Sunday Times yesterday.

Mr Bird explains that it is more expensive to keep a child in care than it is to send them to Eton – like the Prime Minister.

“He has to move fast: a new government has only six months of goodwill. I reminded him that we have the most expensive poor in the world.”