David Cameron declares war on benefit cheats

The fraudsters who cost hard-working taxpayers £5billion a year were a “luxury we can no longer afford” he said.

The Prime Minister’s hard-hitting message came as figures revealed that more than £400million a year in benefits is handed to drug addicts and alcoholics who claim their addiction prevents them getting jobs.

Nearly 90,000 of them are being paid incapacity benefit every week. In the past 10 years £3.8billion in taxpayers’ money has been paid to them. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act list 46,080 alcoholics and 41,230 registered drug abusers on full benefits.

DEBATE: SHOULD WE CRACK DOWN ON BENEFIT CHEATS?

This total is almost double the number of addicts who were living off the state when Labour came to power in 1997.

The Prime Minister vowed to stamp out serial welfare offenders who clobber Britain’s hard-pressed taxpayers for billions of pounds every year. He warned that urgent action needed to be taken as the Government pressed ahead with its squeeze on public spending to reduce the ­country’s record £154billion budget deficit.

Mr Cameron has specifically turned his sights on benefits cheats.

Fraud and error in the tax credit system costs £2.1billion each year – or almost £1 in every £10 paid out – while dishonestly claimed benefits now total £3.1billion a year.

The startling figures are a slap in the face to the millions of honest Britons who have to pay the bill.

Mr Cameron signalled his personal backing for welfare reforms being drawn up by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith despite apparent Treasury concerns over the up-front costs.

The massive annual cost of fraud and error was “the one area of ingrained waste that outranks all others,” Mr Cameron said. “Many see it as a fact of British life that we have no hope of defeating. I passionately disagree.

“Simply shrugging our shoulders at benefit fraud is a luxury we can no longer afford, which is why Iain Duncan Smith is working on the radical steps we can take to deal with it.

“Even with reform, the truth is there will be some things that we genuinely value that will have to go because of the legacy we have been left. I don’t like that any more than anyone else, but this is the reality of the situation we’re in and it’s the duty of this Government to face up to it.

“I can best describe our approach as like the methodical turn-around of a failing business.

“When a company is failing – when spending is rising, sales are falling and debt is mounting – you need someone to come in with energy, ideas and vision and take a series of logical steps.”

He said it was also necessary to stop spending that was “acceptable in the good times, unaffordable in the bad times”. Tax credits for better-off families were like company cars, he said. “They’re appreciated by all, but if you’re suffering losses for the third quarter in a row you’ve got to drop them.”

On drug and alcohol addiction, Daily Express columnist and former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said Britain needed to tackle root causes of abuse. She said: “We need to ask ourselves why so many addicts are on benefits. One reason is that under Labour the police lost the war on drugs.”

Further figures show workshy Britain has more than 264,000 homes where nobody has ever worked. Some contain three generations who have never had a job.

Employment minister Chris Grayling said it was “a staggering number”. He said: “We have to tackle this now and make sure no one is ever left behind again.”

Matthew Sinclair, of campaign group the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “There isn’t any real financial incentive to work. Drastic changes are needed to make it worthwhile for people to work once the economic upturn begins.

“These households make up some of the millions who have just been cast aside on benefits with no meaningful attempt made to help them.”

Last week the Daily Express revealed how 100,000 households rake in more in benefits than the average national wage of £23,422.

The Government has pledged to reform the rules so that no one is worse off by coming off benefits for a job.