Reform MP admits to ‘gaming the benefits system’
Reform MP Lee Anderson admitted he had previously “gamed the system” to help people get benefits.
The Ashfield MP made the statement during a press conference, revealing his past role at the Citizens Advice Bureau before entering politics.
“Before I entered politics, I worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau,” he said.
“We were filling out forms for customers… Now I can tell you, we were gaming the system.”
Mr Anderson described the process as a “competition” between the consultant and the Department for Work and Pensions.
He said he knew consultants in the organization who had a “100 per cent hit rate” on benefits forms and could get “the most suitable man in Ashfield” on personal independence payment (PIP).
Reform UK says it wants to stop people abusing the system as part of its proposals for benefit cuts.
Zia Yusuf, head of policy at Reform England, said young people on disability benefits were being “thrown on the scrap heap”.
The party is planning how to end PIP for applicants with “non-serious” anxiety disorders and introduce more regular reassessments for those who qualify.
Mr Yusuf told a press conference in central London: “The burden of new PIP-related applications for under-25s in this country has tripled in five years.
“So we’re betraying our young people. There’s no more re-evaluation. These young people… are being thrown on the scrap heap for the rest of their lives.”
Mr Anderson said: “The alarm clock generation is now being replaced by the anxiety generation.”
Instead of going to work, “they stay home all day, thanks to taxpayer-funded employment support, loans and personal independence payments,” he said.
The reform said welfare cuts would save around £9bn a year by 2029.
