I have a mental illness and work full time. I have never claimed incapacity benefit despite at times suffering significant illness. The reason - I have a job, I am hardly ever off, when I am off I have built up an entitlement for pay when absent. My view is that its time that we were much tougher on certain groups of people who are living on and provided for by taxpayers. There are genuine cases I am pleased we can all support but I have no sympathy at all for people who claim benefit because they are overweight. The reason I think this is the headline is because you have a choice - overeat and don't exercise well yes you will get fat - its not rocket science however the suggestion that the rest of us should fund greater benefit for these categories is ridiculous - focussing on doing a job would surely provide money and goals to enrich life and the exercise would help. I am totally against giving benefits to keep couch potatoes in front of the Jeremy Kyle show - enough!!

mandy, glasgow, scotland

Hang on a sec, our population is 60million, is it not? And according to the CIA website, about 67% of our population are of working age - that makes about 40million. And we've got 4,000 people in all of the UK claiming incapacity benefit. Where's the story? This means that 0.005% of the working UK population are on incapacity benefit because they are so overweight they can not work. That's about an eighth of the people who work in my organisation in the whole of the UK.
And who says the media aren't prejudiced against fat people?

Janet, Jarrow,

Okay, and now I'm angry.
I'm angry about the bigoted, prejudiced comments that people have written in response to this article.
If you are obese and you can't work, seriously, it's because you have a medical condition - no one can get to that point without it being related to other medical factors. I'm 113kg. I'm considered morbidly obese. It doesn't stop me from working and living a good life. I come from a family of short chubby people and to be frank, I have to deal with that. I ain't ever going to be thin. But on behalf of my fatter brethren I'm offended.
And depression - we're not just talking about being a bit sad. We're talking about not being able to move. And the longer you are depressed the harder it becomes. Unless you have a great support network, it takes more strength than these bigots will ever have.

Janet, Jarrow,

If o e is addicted to alcohol, drugs or cigarettes they get sympathy, support, clinics, prescriptions, syringes, patches.
No-one needs ever to purchase alcohol, drugs or cigarettes.

If one is addicted to food (which one has to buy to survive) one is subject to unsympathetic unkind and rude comments of which there are plenty above.

If the overweight are to be denied NHS care then even more should alcoholics and drug users.

Just look at all the food programmes and drool-food adverts on TV which are designed to make you buy and consume.

Sympathy please for many of the overweight who are driven to eat for numerous reasons and some struggle with diets for years with only intermittent success. Apparently some people are genetically programmed to store fat.

Carol, Cheshire, UK

Apparently the government department responsible reported that experts found it difficult to understand why people throughout the world are becoming obese. I am heavier than I would like to be but I don't stuff myself with food. I eat one round of wholemeal toast a day, eat porridge for breakfast, no chocolates but about six polo's and six cups of tea.

It is my opinion that the food we eat has been so messed about by the manufacturers that we don't know what the hell we are eating. Bread now has fat in it and some stale bread I put out for the birds smelled like it contained vinegar. Where the government should be governing it isn't. Food manufacturers should be forced to reduce the vast quantities of salt sugars and fats which they dump in the processed food which most people eat. kids are eating bags of crisps which are loaded with salt and it should be stopped now. its impossible to find more than one brand which aren't plastered in salt

Phil de Buquet, Newport, England

I am an obese person and i have had 3 days off work in the last ten years i have been working. I work from 7 am till 8 or 9 in the evening and have an active life outside of work. Being fat doesn't stop me doing anything.

I resent the fact we are 5th on the list but are being used as the headline. What about alcoholics that waste 85 million a year. This is also a self inflicted illness and i see more obese people holding down well paid jobs and paying 40% tax than i do alcoholics.

Stop prejudicing against fat people, why is it ok to slag off the fat put we should feel sorry for drug addicts and alcoholics?

HC, London,

At the end of the day if the government put more money into PREVENTING obesity and TREATING mental illness, they wouldn't HAVE to pay those people benefits.

S. Witkowski-Baker, London,

It's not my fault, the government (notice it's never taxpayers) should just spend more money. Where does the government get it's money? From those who earn it, apparently to turn around and give it to those who don't. Or from those who are productive within the community to give it to those who do not contribute to the commonweal.

As a first generation descendant of an English immigrant to the New World, and a born and bred anglophile, it's depressing to read the UK comments and see how the self-reliant English person is apparently a thing of the past.

J. Wall, san salvador, el salvador

Modern obesity is mainly caused by the synthetic trans isomer fatty acids that have replaced the natural cis-isomer form fatty acids throughout the western world. They are produced during the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil. These "trans fats" inhibit ATP transport in mitochondrial membranes resulting in reduced metabolism and obesity. They block insulin receptors causing type 2 diabetes (first diagnosed in 1933). They cause most cardio vascular disease and Alzheimer's disease and depressive illness, NDHD, and a whole host of conditions which are killing 300,000 to 400,000 people in the UK every year and are probably resposible for 30-50% of incapacity benefit claims.

If you want to see the ib claimant count come down:

STOP THE GENOCIDE and BAN TRANS FATS

Dr. J Midgley, Sandwich, UK

Mental illnesses are a genuine reason not to be able to work. As a sufferer of clinical depression and Anorexia Nervosa, I can safely say there have been times when I would have been totally unable to do any job satisfactorily because of my illnesses.

Depression and anxiety disorders can be crippling. And eating disorders are life-threatening illnesses which can leave people unable to work long-term. I know people who have suffered from eating disorders for decades.

I was flatly told by the doctors that I was unfit to take up my place at university or have even a part-time job. I'm not even allowed to do a lot of walking because I have to keep my weight up, so why shouldn't I be allowed incapacity benefit? And yet I had to get private treatment because I'm not ill enough for the NHS.

At the end of the day if the government put more money into PREVENTING obesity and TREATING mental illness, they wouldn't HAVE to pay those people benefits.

S. Witkowski-Baker, London,

This is just another excuse to leech taxpayer money. Everybody anymore, it seems, wants something for nothing and goes to the extreme to get it - even when they are completely undeserving. I can see disability such as MS, Parkinsons, etc. as a valid reason one cannot work, but being too fat (and or ugly)?
Wake up, world...

Reno Nalanthi, Albuquerque, USA

Wow gain 50 pounds and the goverment gives you more pounds to buy food to pack on more pounds!!!

Someone needs to tell them fattys that fat looks pretty only on Hogs

the_miker, New York, USA#1 NYC

How about sending them to Fat-farms for medically supervised wt reduction and psychotherapy, or medication, if it's psycological or glandular? I'm so sick of social enabling and punishing people who do the right thing. I was once a fatty who had a glandular/ psychological eating problem. Now I stay quite thin w/ Synthroid, diet, exercise and plain old willpower. Let's cut out P.C. while we're at it .It's fattening.

connie p., Queens New York, USA

I recall this issue being tossed into the arena more than once in the last decade - trouble is nobody in government has got the moral fibre to turn off the money tap or admit that they are responsible for a culture of cynical benefit dependency for fear of losing votes and exposing the huge unemployment figure that incapacity benefit conveniently hides

philip, Ipswich,

We're always moaning about people being overweight and it being socially unacceptable,giving them benefits (so they don't even have to work) isn't exactly encouraging them to lose weight is it?It's more like rewarding them, whilst the people that go out to work and earn their own money get absolutely no recognition atall.The government dishing out benefits willy-nilly has become ridiculous.

Aimi, Gosport,

"The amount payable ranges from between £61.35 a week to £81.35 a week, compared with £59.15 jobseekers allowance."

And the rest. The whole benefit system is being abused not just incapacity benefit. A complete shake up is needed as far too many (not all) will be content to scrounge from cradle to grave.

Kate, Newcastle, England

Wouldn't it be better to get a medical team of practitioners that are unbiased (meaning they don't have orders to reduce the list!) - to thoroughly investigate each claimant's medical condition with a view to a full recovery if at all possible?

Tarni, London, UK

Incapacity benefit the medical is very strict and a frightening experience believe me ,but these throw away remarks having acne,obese people getting it is just lies damn lies.any person with depression is unable to work,yes this stuff `I feel a bit depressed`today is just a throwaway line if you can work!! you have not got depression.

Tam Durkin, Edinburgh, Mid lothian

These fat people find an easy justification of their laziness. If they wanted to work they would work, instead of complained.

Natali, SPb,

After working and paying my way since leaving school almost forty years ago, I now find myself in the position of needing to claim Incapacity Benefit. I suffered several years of being bullied at work ( a job I had been in for over 26 years) which eroded my confidence and abilities, leaving me unable to cope with people and pressure.This, combined with osteoarthritis in my lower spine and hip which renders me unable to sit , stand or walk for long periods, makes it extremely unlikely that anyone would now be willing to employ me.
I requested that my employer let me try working from home (as other staff were doing) but they would not agree to this and subsequently sacked me.
I have paid into the system for a considerable time but now, when I need to have the support of that system and having had to undergo a very stringent "testing" before being granted this benefit, I am made to feel like a scrounger by people who have no experience of the debilitating nature of these conditions.

T. Connor, Portsmouth, Hants

I'm shocked to learn the amount of money the govt dishes out to obese people for not being able to work. No wonder this country is in a mess for its tolerance with such people including immigrants claiming benefit as soon as they step off the plane. What disgrace?

I personally feel appalled by this as both my husband and I are in full time employment, we've both worked since leaving school, never been on benefits, own our own house and struggling, we still can't afford the luxuries of life , sacrificing our holidays or benefit from our earnins, all our money pay bills /mortgage,food, loans, my daughter's uni fees. We are not entitled to a grant to pay her uni fees as we are categorised as earning too much but offer of a loan which means debt

Why doesn't the govt firstly insist on putting these obese people on a diet and exercise & they have to prove they are doing everything they can to lose weight before entitled to benefits! A lot of people take advantage of the situation!

Claire, Middx, UK

Why is it that recently people have been taking cheap shots at those people who are obese or overweight? Blaming them for the state of the benefits system, the economy and the failing health system, next the blame will be laid on them for the social breakdown of the country and global warming, how about islamic fundamentalism, increasing house prices etc... As a society we need to be less judgmental about how people look. My parents are both large and have been all their lives. Both have worked full time since the age of 16 and 14 paid all their taxes, given their time to the community, own their own home, have never been on benefits and have been loving and generous parents. Its time for people to stop being so prejudiced, making assesments based on how people look and judge people on their actions instead!

A, Newcastle, UK

That is nothing, how many thousands of Labour ministers and socialist councillors are there on 'public service incapacity benefit' taking vast sums from the taxpayer and living a life of luxury whilst hypocritically spouting Marxist doctrine and delivering nothing else - these people should be capable of getting proper jobs in the private sector but it is impossible to wean them off Gordy's profligate handouts and get them into gainful employment

Bryan, Totland Bay, UK

What a misleading and cheap heading to your article about benefit claims, (front page leading article Monday 19th November). I would expect this type of heading in the Sun or the Mirror, but not the Times. Your own sub heading identified that stress related claims are on a ratio of 125 to 1 for obesity, why was this not chosen for the heading? I am sick and tired of the continual poking at anybody who is not the standard statistics required by the media, i.e. anything from size 12 upwards is currently being knocked. You then wonder why young girls and boys have such a low body self esteem. I am disgusted with this type of eye grabbing heading and especially in this case as it was not warrented.

Sheila Stringer, Upminster, Essex

Most of these ailments are a result of poor lifestyle choices and is the responsibility of the individual. This system encourages these poor lifestyle choices that not only prevent people from working (so they say), but encourage people not to work. It gives them an excuse but turns full circle then the system spirals out of control. In addition, people who don't work, or have no real incentive to do so, become dependent on government and are usually unhappy and depressed. So which one is the cause and which one is the effect here? It sounds like some of these people who are the target of the article could use a few less meals anyway. Maybe government money could be used to encourage business and job growth instead of subsidizing it.

Cheers:)

Chris, Tennessee, US

Good heavens! I'm really shocked by the way this article is presented and also by these comments:

1) The article is presented in a bizarre way - why focus on fat people? There are a range of problems preventing work and obesity is in the minority (for example compared to alcoholism or smoking-related conditions)
2) Morbid obesity is a disfiguring, disabling, indeed, life-threatening medical condition, usually seen in association with other serious ilnesses (including arthritis, diabetes and heart conditions). I very much doubt that there are people on DLA who are just a little bit overweight!
3) Many of the reader's comments are both ill-mannered and also ill-informed about the causes of obesity and potential treaments. One thing that has been conclusively proven (and accepted by NICE) is that diet and exercise are not effective for morbid obesity. Bigoted, insulting and simplistic responses should have no place here.

Alex Blakemore, Greater London, Uk

As a foreigner, I read this situation as "Britain pays people to be fat." So why shouldn't you get fat?

Perhaps there's an element of wisdom in such perspective.

Aaron, Seaside,

Obesity is a disease. It will take time but people will soon recognise. The only remedy is surgery. Numerous studies have proved that obese people will go back to work after receiving bariatric surgery.
The government should pay for bariatric surgery on NHS. It is the only cost effective way to treat obesity. This will do all of us a great service and give obese people who are suffereing back their life.

FB, London, UK

I quite agree with Mike North ,of Tunbridge Wells. The secretary of state has got it all wrong as usual and it also shows us all how big brother is working. The goverment have been spending money like water on a war we should not be in, because there falling short of the coffers lets take it out on the disabled. He forgets he tars all disabled with the same brush.
I am a army veteran and disabled and have been for a number of years. the true cost of being disabled I am afraid Mr Hain has no idea nor do his lapdogs who follow or advise him. Sooner or later the disabled fraternity is going to rise and shoot them in the backside. look at all the disabled service personal who are going to be disabled and scarred for life. Do you think they will hold ajob down ? .

Well this goverment treats disabled perons like something out of the gutter,I am aproud man and was proud to serve my country but bow the hain and his cronies never.

chris, barnsley, uk

Many callers to The Migraine Trust helpline say that they want to work but that their employers fail to sympathise with their condition. It is not only Government, but also employers who need to provide support to those who suffer from genuinely debilitating conditions which keep individuals from the workplace.

While there is not as yet any cure for migraines, it is certainly tangible to those who are forced to take time off work, if not to employers who remain unconvinced that migraine is a seriously debilitating condition.

An estimated 190,000 people have migraine attacks every day around the UK. More than 100,000 people in England alone are absent from work or school every day as a result of migraine.

A Working With Migraine information pack is available from The Migraine Trust website www.migrainetrust.org

Rupert Walder, London, London

poor people, sick and mentally defective people would have been shut in institutions and the key thrown away not that long ago, now we subject them to public humiliation by media - what a sad reflection of the 21st century, the institutions all closed and now we are heading towards "ARBEIT MACH FREI" - FAT PEOPLE AND SICK PEOPLE TODAY, WHAT NEXT- suppose they could all be put in the big brother house for more public mockery - the medical tests are humiliating and degrading to genuinely sick people, since when has being able to answer the phone and take messages, or lift your arms over your head, got any relevance to being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, or ms or a heart condition or kidney disease, it is vry distressing for ill people to be treated like this, especially when they have been wrongly diagnosed, and been treated as unemployed, and have not received benefit they would have been entitled to - only to get it then be constantly worried about it being forced to work !!

alice, southend, uk

I have a severe obesity problem brought on by having two knackered hip joints and a herniated disc in my spine. Before my hip issues I was a motorcycle racer.
I am presently holding down two full time jobs, one running an engineering company as chief executive, and the other a property company. I am classified as 65 percent disabled but havent registered for benefit and I do understand that some people have to do so. I dont think the less well off should be penalised by this whacky Labour, so called "Government of the people" in this way.

Yes there are some people skiving but there are a lot more employers who are bullied into keeping lazy people on because of the draconian measures this govt has taken to avoid their responsibilities for these people. This is just another of those initiatives to make unemployment figures
look better.
I wish they would do a survey of employers suffering illness and depression due to punitive legislation and nanny culture the results would shoc

John Smith, Burnley , Lancashire

Ah, so not only are we lazy scoungers, we're FAT, lazy scroungers.

A little reality check people. You would not receive Incapacity Benefit because you were 'too fat to work', that's entirely too nebulous. You might get it (and rightly so) if you were too fat to WALK. I also don't have a problem with people receiving IB for dizziness or giddiness - ask someone with Multiple Sclerosis how they cope with what feels like perpetual motion sickness or the constant falls. On the Conservative Party policy website someone complained because Irritable Bowel Syndrome would qualify - see how work confident you are when fecally incontinent and having to interview wearing a nappy-like product.

Yes I get Incapacity Benefit. Yes I am morbidly obese, I am also disabled. I am not disabled because I am fat but I AM fat because I am disabled.

Mel Richards, Edinburgh,

There are usually psychological reasons why people get obese. There is little incentive to work in the UK when the pay is rediculously low and working conditions awful compared with other more forward thinking, socially intelligent countries. All you who complain about those on IB, do you think your finances or prosperity will increase one little bit if these people were forced to work. Just consider, there are MP's claiming over £100,000 a year just in expenses!! Wake up folks, you're after the wrong people.

elliot Jones, Norway,

What a contemptible thing for Frank Field to say - that he doesn't blame people for working the system and that it's the fault of politicians (of all people!) for not stopping them!! And how typical of Labour too: the assumption that people are not responsible for themselves in any way, morally or otherwise, and that politicians will tell us what to do and what to think and what's right and what's wrong. We deserve this veiled contempt from our politicians - we've turned into a bunch of tame clones.
Marion, London

marion fraser, London,

The 2000 too fat to work. Ironically there are 10,000,000 people elswhere in the world who can not work because they are too thin(weak and starving of hunger) The fat and obese should receive no further payments untill they loose weight and stop wasting the worlds scarce food".FAT CHANCE"
John Murray Scotland

John Murray, Edinburgh,

I am getting a bit sick of all this immigration bashing.. migrants are generally a boost to the economy- they tend to work, not live on benefits, and create new jobs! They also tend to be young healthy people and so tend to use services such as health less often than the general population. Immigrants are more likely than non-immigrants to open their own business, and small businesses are the life blood of any economy, including the UK! In addition, there seems to be no discussion of how many Brits have left the country (leaving jobs behind them) when talking about how immigrants 'take British jobs.'
I came to Britain 7 years ago and am still having to justify myself every time I re-enter the country. I have paid taxes every year. I am about to bring into the UK money to start a business, and will probably employ 5 people in my 1st year.
Migrants are not the ones claiming benefits for dubious reasons- we aren't allowed! Would it be so bad not to blame us for once?

Ella, London, UK

Eleemenntary. Cut their 'allowances' until they are normal size and yippy; they can work to earn MORE than their reduced allowance - even more than their original - over-generous one.

Jim T, Solihull, W M

Sir
Comment on the BBC News 19 November 2007 regarding `Incapacity Benefit` reform featured eligbility criteria in claiming `Incapacity Benefit` as Mental Health, Alcohism and Obesity.
The majority of claimants are eligible purely on the basis that they have severe illnesses preventing employment.

Angela Napier, Ilford, Essex

I've paid a considerable amount of tax during my life, but the only time I needed to claim benefits the inability of anyone to explain the system or get it to work properly meant that I ended up borrowing money instead (which, nonsensically, actually counted against me as I was then "richer"). I've never seen a penny of benefits to which I know I was entitled. no doubt if I'd just fallen off a boat, I would have had someone take me through the forms in my own language and make sure I got everything I needed.

life would be far easier if there were just one benefit form to fill in and then some competent government worker worked out all the benefits to which a claimnat might be entitled and made sure they got one sum for the lot.

the only people who benefit from the ridiculous system we have now are those who exist to play the system. and anyone who is actually capable of working their way through all the forms and interviews is perfectly capable of getting a job!

jem, london, uk

As usual, it's those at the bottom of the heap that get picked on again for a so-called "crackdown".

Why don't they "crackdown" on tax evaders? Tax evasion costs 10 times as much as incapacity benefits.

Kate, London,

What this study doesn't seem to say is how long the people have been claiming Incapacity benefit for. In theory you can claim IB for a relatively short period of time (and some people do have to do this, for example if their Jobseekers Allowance is stopped due to missing a signing on).
It's been proven that years ago they tried to get people onto IB instead of JSA as they didn't count towards the jobless figures. Also you get more money on IB than you do on JSA.

They definitely don't do enough to help people with genuine long term health problems back into work.

JJ, London,

“But this is just not the case – many people with such conditions are perfectly able to take up successful careers, if the right support is in place."

I find a firmly sweung boot aimed in the buttock region works wonders as a "fully supportive measure".

Edwin Thornber, Bucharest,

The whole welfare system has been continuously abused for years now, each generation learns from the older generation who have lived off of the state without working. There are most certainly genuine deserving cases, but I believe for the most part the majority are just taking what they can. It is time to shut it all down and start again, scrap the whole system and start up again with new and sensible rules (although where you are going to find anyone to come up with anything common sense is beyond me!) Society in decline, and not a politician anywhere to be found with the backbone to remedy it, perhaps it is time for the likes of UKIP to come to promenance and see if they can turn the country around, there is absolutely no chance of the two major parties ever doing so, inept incompetents or self serving career politicians all !! is it no wonder that so many like me have moved on to find a better quality of life, not perfect, but better.

John korn, North Bay, Ontario, Canada

I'm glad so many other people have pointed out how unfair it is the classify people with mental health problems as 'lazy'. Anyone who thinks that is true has obviously never suffered from mental ill health, those who have can verify just how much it can affect a person's life. Being depressed might not take away your ability to use a computer but to say it isn't something that can stop you from working is a total lie.
Let's not forget that the benefits people are already hounding people who are genuinly unfit for work.

Also, while I agree acne is a pretty lame excuse, the term 'skin conditions' can also be applied to things like EB, which can be a terrible ordeal for sufferers, as you will know full well if you have any idea what it is.

C, West Midlands,

for those of us who have met the myriad of criteria required to be awarded Disability living allowance
and Incapacity benefit it is totally humiliated every timea government is struggling in the polls they then embarkon an excercise ,costing £millions, which asks those who have been permanently disabled for years to fill i IB50S giving exactly the sam,e information every time
the last such excercise was just 6 months ago
how many more times does the government feel justified in worrying the hell out of permanently disabled people Ilike millions of others have been examined more than once by government appointed doctors and pronounced un able to work
in many cases both physically and mentally
as disability benefits fall further and further behind
the real cost of being a disabled person in the uk
picking on societie's most vulnerable
has been a popular passtime for more than one government decisions and arguments made by people who have no experienced the humiliating DWP

mike knoth, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, kent

I used to work at a rights centre helping people apply for benefits and It is incredibly difficult to get incapacity benefit. Yes there are people who cheat the system, but there are an awful lot more who deserve the money and don't get it. And I can well see how diseases such as depression, ME (which is what the ignorant probably mean by 'tiredness') and severe acne could make people incapable of functioning in our intolerent society.

People should educate themselves on mental illness before leaping to judge.

Ziggy, London,

Can some please explain to me why incapacity benefit is more than jobseekers allowance? If it's supposed to be enough to live on, why does someone with depression need more money to live on than someone who just can't get a job? (This of course could be an argument for giving the unemployed more money....)

If you just gave everyone the same, wouldn't that reduce the numbers applying for incapacity? Of course, then we might have to face the real number of people who haven't had a job for years and no intention of getting one...

Clare, London,

Nick from London, who wrote:
Dizziness & Giddiness?
This reads like a sketch from The Day Today, the sad thing being that it is true.

You might not be so quick to condemn if you'd ever suffered from an inner ear condition or Meniere's disease.

Anyway the big problem with this article is that in the interests of a scandalous headline it is lumping together too many different types of illness or problem, and rather simplistically skimming over the issue. Yes, there may be people on Incapacity Benefit who don't deserve it. Equally, there may be many who ought to be but aren't. Yes, employers should be more helpful - too often they seem only to want perfect self-sacrificing highly trained employees though, and be unwilling to put in any effort themselves (see any CBI statement or Minnette M's recent article on flexible working); equally, the government is at fault for failing to take control of the benefits system in any meaningful way.

Margot, Toronto, Canada

Why headline fat people who are 4 million out of 7.4 Billion. Hell us obsese people are better than alcoholics and don't beat people up. Indeed the 2000 Obese might have a secondary condition so what percentage are off for merely being huge? What about the drunks? Are they not more of a problem? 85 million? Why no headline paid to drink at home? After all there is one cause of alcoholism and it is self induced - unlike potentially some of the very large.

Of course this agenda govt who want to ration health care and see the large as a target to be down graded to apes. Honestly despite no causal link, even suggested mostly, we see obesity 'linked' with everything in unattributed studies mostly - hey if you eat lots of processed rubbish you are more likely to get fat and are more likely to get cancer. They are both symptoms.

Jonathan da Silva, Feltham, Middlesex

I have been ill since 1989. Before I was diagnosed in 2000, my illness was unknown to medicine & I was often branded as a scrounger, just like you are doing now. The symptoms are fatigue, malaise and depression because I cannot work! I had to survive on £50 per week. Poor diet & malnutrition ensued due to the pitifully low rate of benefits as I was forced to receive only JSA!
My disease has now at last been recognised & I am about to start a course of treatment which will last 12 months with a 50% chance of success, costing about £30,000. On Incapacity Benefit I now get £89 per week & have debts of over £7000.
My point is - I WAS SEEN AS A SCROUNGER - yet I am ill just like I always said.
THIS WILL HAPPEN TO MORE PEOPLE WHEN THE DODGY U.N.U.M. are advising how to refuse benefit to help save the Govt a relatively small amount of money. IRAQ anyone? ££?
By the way - too many people commit suicide due to acne & bullying at work. Why should they have to work if it affects them like this?

Emmanuel Goldstein, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

This article is misleading and muddled. Reading it, you might reasonably form the impression that Incapacity Benefit is based on self-reported illness; that people become entitled to IB on the basis of a note from their GP; that it is given for non-specific conditions like "dizziness"; that it goes to people who "don't feel like working"; that the numbers of beneficiaries have trebled since 1979; and that 2.7 million people are getting paid the benefit. In fact, Incapacity Benefit is usually payable only after six months; the benefit is given for incapacity, not for illness as such; the tests are based on two complex points schemes; the scheme is verified by the "medical service", an independent privatised company; there were 2.17 million beneficiaries at the last count , and the numbers of claimants have been falling. There are real issues to debate; this misinformation doesn't help.

Professor Paul Spicker, Aberdeen, Scotland

Look,
the most discriminated people in this country are the old and the ill ( and fat). If you are any of these, despite how much you have paid in NI payments through your life, someone wants to take your meagre pathetic benefit away.
I would love to work, but no one will have me because we are in an image led society, where twenty year old girls manage shops, and thirty year old senior managers are looking for career breaks.
Maybe they are too intimidated by someone with a bit of knowledge, I do not know.
I am ill, have no hope of employment, I am very very very poor, and would like you all to think before you comment about us lazy fat useless people, perhaps the time has come to take stock of what our society has become. Maybe it will be you next!
Moriarty

Moriarty, torquay, U.K

Tell them to take up scientology

Chris, London, UK

I would like to work but the government are putting the cart before the horse again!. I had a heart attack and have serious depression. I am also 56yrs old.
Aside from having to deal with ageism, i also find a 'youth' culture that employers want. So to tell someone who is depressed and has no confidence to go find work is not going to get them nice employers instantly!
The government need to put more pressure on employers to dump the youth requirement, and look at people who are sick in a better light. Tell a prospective employer you have had a heart problem is like a 'kiss of death' at an interview.
We need to change employers attitudes before you can tell sick people to go get work. The ageism laws that were brought in have about as much clout as a soggy bannana.
We need a culture change in this country otherwise sick people will end up still on benefits, and in poverty.
I try to live on £80pw benefits, and object to anyone thinking that I live a 'rich' lifestyle.

Paul Streeting, Bath, Somerset

How on Earth everyone knows the story of each person getting benefit for "obesity"? Hysteria or what?

What is the cause of the obesity for each person? Eating ? Are you sure? What if it was hormonal, or the side effect of medical treatment , or some other (many possible reasons for obesity)?

Please give us a break!

In a country with MILLIONS of obese people, where the majority of employers were too happy to say a few months ago they would NOT hire an obese person, 2000 people getting benefit on the basis of obesity is NOTHING.

What makes people think getting disability benefit it's an easy task? One can tell they have never been in such position (and thanks God for that!) because it's a lot HARDER than what they think.

People, "YOU" could be sick tomorrow and need this kind of benefit!

The journalist that last night said on BBC that people working live longer than those on incapacity benefit should guess why sick people die before healthy ones. Christ!

J.C. Romanino, Devizes,

Maybe this is good incentive for the government to rethink its stand on complimentary medicine and making it available for the thousands who need it on the NHS. It can be highly beneficial for those who have conditions that aren't helped through conventional medicine and therapies. A pilot project perhaps, even just starting with depression? Maybe the government can fund a project with an organization like Food for the Brain, and see how many people recover from severe depression in 6 months. Would be nice to see the funds help people in need recover, support organizations that have high success rates, which would help the people in turn get off a very demoralizing charity scheme (yes, no one wants to live that way), and in turn the monies could be redistributed as necessary. Everyone would benefit!

PSully, Toronto, Canada

"I would give anything to swap my life with a normal one"

Nobody is "normal." Normal is a setting on a washing machine. Everyone has troubles. Few people mind helping out their fellow person here and there. What people do mind is when someone would rather complain about their problems instead of work to find something productive that they can do.

So you're depressed and sit at home watching television? Be a security guard and watch TV there. It's proven that exercise helps depression. Get a construction job. Work as a mover. Mow lawns.

People have problems and it sucks, but wishing them away and expecting other people to take care of you is not a solution. Almost everyone can do something productive in this day and age of technology. It helps both the people around you and your feeling of self worth.

Wes, Indiana, US

l feel sorry for those who are in geniun need of help be it physical, financial, mental or spiritual. Some especially severe acne sufferers really need a lot of reassurance from loved ones that they are as worthy as the person without acne. Except obesity, other true sufferers have my sympathy. l dont really want to judge fat people, but most of the time, they are just plain greedy and never know when enough is enough. We all love to eat all the chocolates, chips, fried chicken, desserts everyday, but there is a price to pay for that gluttony. l go to bed hungry everynight and always dream about eating a whole cheesecake to myself but l deny myself all these glorious food because l want to stay 48kgs and healthy (size 8) Dont just dream about being slim, get rid of all the unhealthy cravings and go for long walks instead. Maybe then you wont have to go on social benefits plus you gain a healthy body and mind.

Mia, Brisbane, Australia

I am in the USA. I weigh close to 400 lbs. I W-O-R-K for a living. a REAL job. I don't sit on my arse all day eating and moaning about how depressed I am. Eat a carrot and get a job.

Craven Moorehead, Crookhaven, South Carolina

Why has Hain come up with the fat issue now?

Could it be that he didn't dare whilst Prescott was (nearly) in charge?

Anil Chatterjee, Manchester,

Do something instead of wallowing and swallowing! Wants have replaced needs! I am reaching for the donuts as I write .......

sophia, mexico,

l would make fat people eat mushroom congee & nothing else for 10 years!! Now where are those weighing scales?

Virginia, Brisbane, Australia

It will cost more to administer the new test than it will every save, at least 10 time more I would imagine.

Are the figures on the cost of the scheme available?

Anyone who does not want to work is by definiton mentally ill anyway.

A waste of time and money.

Pam, Derby, UK

I lived in a hostel because of my family situation (I was16 and couldn't live with my mother anymore because we never got along!)... I had to use my 'moderate' depression as an excuse for income support because I couldn't work, because the housing benefit vultures wouldn't pay my £137 rent per week at the hostel that I had to live in! So, even though I didn't want to be on income support, I had to, just to keep the Liverpool city counctil from taking all the little amount of money I got, leaving me in debt, then taking me to court, and maybe to jail too!! These statistics completely miss the individual stories behind the 'facts'.

Sophie, Liverpool, England

The personal capabilty assessment as it's called for Incapacity Benefit is already deeply flawed. The points system for consciousness, walking ability etc. is totally unrealistic. The assessment is carried out by retired GPs in the main. Small wonder then that so many are on benefit. Against that there are also those who are wrongly denied benefit.

John Newcombe, Paignton, Devon

Speaking from experience, the best remedy for stress or depression is to keep yourself fully occupied with plenty of hard word. Its certainly preferable to lounging on the sofa all day, watching junk television, eating junk food, and feeling sorry for yourself.

Brian, Colchester, UK

Beth, London

I think you've hit the nail squarely on the head

Jackboy, London,

I am 30 yrs old and have been on Incapacity benefit for over a year. I hate it as I would much rather be working, not having to live with my parents, have a husband, child, job, house. I suffred abuse in my childhood, was raped at university lost half my family to cancer and was in abusive relationships for years, was sexually harrassed at work, ended up with a serious thyroid problem which prevented me from being able to leave my flat... You don't just get benefits you have to go through rigorous tests. Until you have had clinical depression and have felt the need to try and kill yourself, or you have been through any of the above you really haven't a clue. I would give anything to have a normal life and not have to take medication or therapy to survive. I would give anything to swap my life with a normal one, you want to swap it for this? Thought not. Don't judge what you don't know. For real info on depression google Mind and Sane.

anon, Yorkshire,

Why do alcoholics and obese persons get disability benefits?

John, Eastbourne, UK

I have suffered from depression episodes for the last fifteen years. It is easy to condemn someone, I worked with statistics on a volunteer basis. Five years ago, after 1000 applications later, I did work for the Civil Service . They moved the goal posts, saying that I would have to re-apply any new positions as an unemployed person. During a three hour commute, my depression came again.

I am a person who wants to work, do I have go through the pain of 1000+ rejections again./

Giles, edinburgh,

Have you tried living on £60 a week? These people do not have it easy and deserve our sympathy and support, not populist attempts to deprive them of their means of survival.

Oliver, Watford,

Immigrants are doing the work that bludgers would otherwise do. So contrary to government propaganda they have no net value to the UK economy especially given their call on scarce public resources such as the NHS. Taking control of our borders does not seem relevant until you think about it. We need to find a politician that thinks. Er.......

J.Cornhill, Brentford, UK

This article angers me so much! My father had a stroke over 2 years ago when he was 57. It left him with a partially paralysed right leg, totally paralysed right arm, loss of speech and limited ability to read and write. He was and still is a very intelligent man however because he could walk more than 400m with a stick (although not allowed to go out on his own) we were informed he'd no longer be entitled to Disability Allowance. It took appeals and letters and nearly went to court to ensure he got the benefit he deserved and as much as he'd love to work he will never be able to again. And people out there are getting Incapacity Benefit because they are overweight, stressed, tired, dizzy, have bad skin? Spend a day in my Dads shoes without being able to speak properly, read, write or go out on your own and tell me again why you can't go to work.

Beth, London,

had to go on incapacity benefit when I was terminally ill. Luckily had a transplant. I would love to go back to work but nobody wants to take on someone who was ill. I am doing volutary work as a treasurer in three different charity shops and they are grateful. If it was not the minimum wage then employers may take me on a trial period for free or a small wage. Don't penalise the disadvantaged because of employer prejudice.

John Daly, London,

Only 2000? I went to the beach this summer and the number who looked like your photo was high.

I reckon many more are unable to work because of obesity!

John Charlesworth, Sleaford , UK

We tread every individuate problem in this society on its own, but it is unfortunately not that simple.We have to faced it as whole of society and the world.

Anne-Marie, London, Greater London

If you took away half their benefits they would NOT have the money to spend on food and would have to slim down and get a job...having seen some of the trolleys of these people in supermarkets (filled with cakes and sugar) they do NOT deserve the money they get and we need to be cruel to be kind to them as they have no self control....
No money= no food=a slimmer and fitter person who can work

ruby cooper, nice, france

It seems OK for politicians and public figures to dip their snouts into the trough but woe betide any pleb trying to eke a living.

Ken Wyatt, Todmorden, UK

I Was diagnosed with depression when i was 14, i'm only 19 now and take anti depressents daily. Its a Horrible ilness but one you have to live with. I work full time even the days I feel i cant even step out of my door but i'm able bodied and not lazy and i work for my money, own my own home and pay taxes. I dont pay my taxes for people who are like me but feel they cant work, they can. Dizziness?!? get an admin job and sit at a desk its the same as sitting at home only your earning a living.

All this and my permananly disabled aunt with MS had to have a review of whether she is still entillted to her benifits...like MS gets better with time.

Lucie, Macc,

Now I am depressed.

Steve Byrne, christchurch, UK

REF INCAPACITY BENEFIT ;It is ludicrous to believe that just because someone is obese or has a skin complaint they automatically get IB you have to pass a very stringent medical test to recieve this even the DWP has verified this.

Harold Barnes, Burnley, Lancashire

thats question about overweight should treatment like drugs add and many others diseases because are really a case to conserner to million,this is a big trouble cause envolment emotial reasons and mind freak is very difficult resolution

hilson mergulhão breckenfeld, recife, brasil/pernambuco

My stepson sent two cheques back to the job centre as they continued to pay it after he submitted his final certificate. So who's fault is that ....... somebody is culpable, or the system itself?

Steve, Horsham,

What's the news?

2,000 seems acceptably low to me in a working population of 20 million +.

I know a few people who struggle from water retention - and it's not their fault as far as I can tell - so maybe people should stop being so judgmental.

Peter, Beds.,

What is it with all the media anti-fat headlines? Its as if having a dig at all other minorities has been outlawed so fat people are the only ones left.

All that will happen is they will get some Commision for Size Equality and words like fat and obese will be outlawed. Any attacks on fat people will carry double the prison sentence of a normal attack and businesses will be accused of paying fat people less than their slimmer counterparts. Shops and other services will have to cater more for fatties with wider doors etc and more lifts/escalators. I bet the Government even start allowing fat people to marry each other...! Don't say you weren't warned...

Rod Munch, Northampton, UK

I worked all my life, have never taken benefits and have paid my taxes; also I am not obese. But I say this - many of the people on incapacity benefit ARE ill and would love the opportunity to work. Just because there are a minority who abuse the system is no reason to attack all, in the way that some of your correspondence fascists are doing. Show some compassion! I hope you never get sick yourselves.
This wateful Government wants to get a few cheap votes by attacking the sick or disabled. It looks like it is succeeding.
Incapacity benefit is a very small sum nationally and the only benefit that is independently assessed by at least two doctors. Compare that to the handouts given to immigrants; to housing benefit; to council and housing association houses let at cheap rents. That's where the Government should look for abuse and savings.
The rules which enable ill people to work part-time should also be made easier. They have not changed for decades, despite the minimum wage.

Michael, Aston Clinton, England

I can tell you this, having an ex-partner working in benefits for years. Firstly, Thatcher had targets set and delivered on a monthly basis to job centres, for the number of people to be moved from unemployment benefit.

Despite the odd public splutter about this, New Labour have made NO efforts to make any changes to this, confirming, as the article suggests, that they too are using Incap to keep unemployment figures down.

Fred Ingles, Evesham, England

I am disabled. I had a stroke, which left me partially sighted and deaf. I work because it makes me feel valued. I suffer from a blood disease and every GP I see says why don't I just sign you off sick. I put some of the blame on GP's who just want an easy life with no moaning patients. The cave in too easy to pressure from patients.

GP's know if I give the patient what they want I can get them out of the surgery quicker.

r, london,

I was off work for 2 years with accute stress, anxiety and depression as a result of looking after my Mum, and holding down a stressful job, for 15 years. I got so ill I could not get up a few steps my breathing was so bad. I had agonising pains in my stomach and could not leave the house due to agoraphobia. It was Hell. I did not think I was going to live through it.

I was told that as I had been self-employed I would not recieve a single penny in incapacity benefit. I did not and lived off my savings.

Even now I still get regular letters from the Department of Work and Pensions threatening to cut my benefits - the benefits that I have never received one penny for - if I do not attend one of their medicals. How absurd is that!?

The whole system is, no pun intended, a sick joke where those who know how to play the system get thousands in benefits and others get nothing. I wonder just how many people like myself are out there needing the benefit but who get nothing!

Jan, Cardiff, UK

Is this article claiming that depression, anxiety disorders etc are not real conditions or that they cannot be really disabling? How about looking at the problem of stress, depression etc in modern society instead, and seeing what we can all do about it?

Saph, London,

Dizziness & Giddiness?

This reads like a sketch from The Day Today, the sad thing being that it is true.

Nick, London,

There are too many people blaming society for their ills. People without a medical reason for being fat are a melanoma in the fabric of society. They are indolent unsustainable feeders on the good will and generosity of the hard working righteous. There is no cure since they refuse to help themselves. They expect help. It is all 'take take take' and no 'give give give'.

Gareth, Newcastle, UK

Cheap foreign workers? In the Premier League? You are not talking about the players, surely?!

Calista, cambridge,

Give them a pair of trainers and a map of their neighbourhood with suggested jogging routes.

Luke Nicolaides, London, UK

no, it should be a salad island, with a skinny turnstile. Until they can fit through the turnstile, they stay on the island. Would save the taxpayer a fortune.............

Michael Connor, Auckland, NZ

Too fat to Work - Just take away the benefits, They will soon move and find work when the free handouts stop. Then they will lose weight!!!

Crysta, northampton, uk

I have been looking for work for three years. My doctor wants to sign me to incapacity benefit as I have a heart condition, polycythemia and irratic blood pressure. It takes so long to transfer from one benefit to another that I would starve to death whilst waiting. I am worse off on JSA but feel that if I am honest with a prospective employer, they will be a reasonable company to work for. Unfortunately this works to my detriment and thus 3 years unemployed! ( it doesn't help I am in my mid 50's) Remember. Those on sick and transfered to JSA will still be claiming and the saving will nominal.

PJC, Newbury,

There's much food for thought here, including the idea that some of the cash handed out by taxpayers may buy an awful lot of burgers and sugar drinks, rather than fresh veg and fruit..

It does, however, seem shocking that people should not be blamed for 'working the system' when encouragement not only to do so but also to view benefits as a valid lifestyle choice has been embedded for so long in a culture which has penalised the work ethic so heavily that at the margin staying 'on the sick' can attract greater reward than work.

If 'work' were to include helping to police the system, need for probity investigation assistant officers on short term contract could inject a huge new demand at job centres to supply the flood of applicants released to the market by clamping down on abuse.

Fashionable toys such as mobile phones with cameras could capture incapacitated moonlighting for benefit scrutineers, rather than happy slapping binges forwarded to gang cronies with time to spare

dr venables preller, Warminster, UK

I note from your article that you fail to mention just how difficult it is to get on incapacity benefit. The UK currently has in place the toughest medical test of any country in the EU. As a consequence many of those on this benefit have only successfully been awarded it following an appeal.

I also note that you seem to sneer at people who are incapacitated through fatigue. As a sufferer I can tell you that management of such a condition is very difficult. One day I am fine and able to work all day, the next I struggle to work more than 4-5 hours. Most employers are simply not flexible enough to allow for this.

Moreover few employers will employ you if they know you a medical condition. Although I currently work part-time, I have lost out on many job opportunities because I have failed to pass a medical with occupational health professionals listing me as ‘high risk’ for absence. This is despite the fact I have successfully for several years.

Thomas Lloyd, Knaresborough, UK

Why do you think illegal immigrants risk their lives trying to get into Britain from France? Our benefits system is a soft touch and abuse is rampant . We hand out 'winter fuel allowances' to those not even living in the UK during the winter; the Home Office hand out NI numbers like sweets at a children's party. I personally know of a guy who regularly plays badminton at our club who has been on invalidity benefits (back problems) for last 8 years and has never worked during that period! The Government squander taxpayers money because it is easier to squeeze more out of us than it is to put in place proper controls.

Oxford Don, Oxford, UK

Too fat to work? What a lame excuse!! There are many people overweight working! or is the real reason that they rather not work and still get paid?

This system is flawed! Benefits should have a time period of say 6 months (maybe even 1 year) to give people a chance to get back onto their feet. After the time period - end of benefits! That will give them an incentive to work!

Why are our taxes being wasted this way?

Rich, UK,

The biggest sickness issue relating to (un)emplyment is one of attitude. I have a small business and have had to manage the problem of people turning up for interviews with an attitude that translates to " I don't want to work" but if I didn't come for the interview I'd lose my benefit.
Contrast that with the attitude of the eastern europeans I now employ. I actually pay them more - so it's not cheap labour - but the idle state spongers could learn a lot from them - but that would mean finding other excuses to keep out of work

Dave Ellis, Leicester, UK

Disability Alliance supports initiatives and policies that bring about real sustainable improvements to the employment rates of disabled people.

However, given the fact that the employment rate for disabled people remains some 30% below that of the national average and thus reliant on welfare benefits for prolonged periods of time, we have grave reservations about implications from Government that incapacity benefit claimants need to be subject to a more rigorous test of entitlement than currently exists.

Disabled working-age adults have moved more deeply into relative poverty over the last 10 years and a quarter of disabled parents who are in work remain in relative poverty. Disabled people of working age have incomes that are, on average, less than 50% of that earned by non-disabled people.

Many disabled people may never be able to enter the labour market and will depend on benefits their whole lives. Yet, levels of benefit are inadequate and there are serious problems with take-up of some benefits such as Disability Living Allowance.

We would like to see the government commission independent research into the adequacy of welfare benefits and tax credits to examine whether these currently meet the extra costs associated with disability, as recommended by David Freud in his recent report.

We would like to see a Welfare Commission established, as recommended by the Work and Pensions Select Committee, to take a holistic look at what the welfare system should look like in the 21st Century, to identify areas where attention is required in terms of simplification and standardisation of definitions, as well as examining the interactions between welfare benefits and work incentives.

We feel that, within the current structure of the welfare system, there are intrinsic barriers to disabled people being able to try out work and we are disappointed that the government appears more intent on castigating individual claimants for their situation, rather than looking for progressive ways to deal with the issues of long term benefit receipt.

Paul Treloar, London, UK

I welcome the efforts to kerb this sort og behaviour. But the comments made in the article concerning suffers of depression worries me. There is no doubt that some lazy so and so's use depression as an excuse.

But as someone whom lost their job and was unemployed for almost a year as a result of clinical depression I can assure you that there is nothing "intangible" about depression. While someone with depression can "look" perfectly healthy they are far from it inside. It took me a long time recover properly from depression and if I had been given the pressure of work to deal with too, well, my recovery would have taken a lot longer and perhaps not even recovered at all.

Let's hope they consider these things when implementing this new policy.

CH, Tekwesbury, Gloucestershire

In what way is this news? We have always known that Mrs Thatcher's government began all this 20-odd years ago when it was desperate to appear to reduce unemployment rates. She actively pursued policies that reclassified as incapacitated millions of the long-term unemployed. Once the figures had been massaged in this way, it was politically impossible for future governments to put people back where they belonged on the unemployment register.

By the way, the reason that France has such high unemployment figures is because it resisted the temptation to play this numbers game. Add our long-term incapacitated to our unemployed and you end up with a per capita figure that's remarkably close to the French one. So much for the great Anglo-Saxon economic miracle. Again, it's been plain for ages that that's only been miraculous for the very rich.

Peteran, London,

Tim said, "send them for a salad detox but it has recently been disclosed that NHS money ear marked for dealing with Obesity has been spent buy NHS trusts to balance their books.

So much for government spin about helping people to change their life stiles.

Maybe the government will ring fence the money in future so fat people and alcoholics can get real help from the NHS rather than just spin.

Graham, St Albans, uk

I was on IB for many years because of a mixture of trauma's in my early 20's and having stayed in college for too long. My boyfriend's death in an accident put my college years back, the suicide of my best friend lead me to taking a year out of my degree, and some awful family business lost me another two years. At 28, with a first in English and an MA I started applying for jobs but couldn't get one. Eventually I did but got the sack after six months. I completely lost my confidence, I lost my way and I tried to commit suicide. I detested being on IB and I'd tell no one because I was so ashamed. I felt a social outcast and completely washed up by life. My GP refused to refer me to a therapist but he carried on writing the notes and handing out pills. I used the system to gradually start my own business and finally got off the wretched thing. But the last thing I ever was was lazy - I still feel ashamed (perhaps I deserve to). But being on IB was utterly, utterly awful.

Mary, London,

We've all known for a long time that to be registered as disabled gets the person de-registered from the unemployment list. What a sham!
This makes the unemployment figure in the UK almost 4m - a figure which this dishonest government should be using.
Whilst they're not all malingerers, those that are combine with the one in 4 who already work for the government to make an army of voters who will not vote against their paymasters. Beware this hidden agenda David Cameron.
The UK under this regime can only go one way and that is towards bankcruptcy.

Paul Savage, Lambourn, Berkshire

It angers me that the depressed and the borderline mentally ill are classified in this way, and thankfully at least their GP's are sympathetic to their needs. Until they're given the option of the treatment they need (the therapists and the support systems simply are not there) they should not be hounded like criminals. Why are people so willing to assume that these people are scroungers and skivers? Why is no consideration given to the soul destroying realisation some of these people wake up to every day that they are not wanted, needed nor desired in society? Do those who point the finger think that these people have the confidence of steel, or has years of being on Incapacity Benefit eroded it completely? This witch hunt mentality is not the right stance to take, and yes, the government are massaging the figures, which is why nothing truly constructive has been done about it.

We've basically still got around 3m unemployed.

Alicia, London,

Remember there are only 600,000 or so vacancies across the country so taking these off benefits would see the unemployment count soar which I suspect is the reason why this (and the previous) government do little about it...

cww, suffolk,

Send them to fat prison for a salad detox...

tim , reading, uk

If insurance companies can pay hired detectives to film people doing things they couldn't do if they had an illness then so can the Government. I know, we all know, people who have been on this scam for years and who have cheap cars, free parking tickets, cheap access to council gyms, swimming pools etc. It is about time the people who actually pay for these services were given free or cheaper access to them and those who pay nothing in got nothing out.

John, Dundee, UK

Those that can..do and we are ...leaving. I'm tired of working hard to bring up my children and fund layabouts who dont want to work. The migrant workers are fine by my book, keep coming but dont pay tax. Maybe that way, the Govt might wake up to the fact that the brightest and best aren't staying in the UK any longer - so long, I'll take my children with me so that they can spend their money on their own children rather than be forced to pay for someone elses. Changing demographics mean that companies and countries need to attract people - UK Plc just isnt showing signs of joined up thinking. WAKE UP - There is no free lunch.

Rob, Conrwall, UK

With you on that one Chris.

Conrad Holmboe, Beijing, China

"It will also fuel the debate over whether British workers could have been hired for more of the one million new jobs taken by migrants since 1997"
no it won't - if someone refuses to work on the grounds of being fat then you can't then say that the reason they won't work is somehow to do with competition for jobs!

Marco, Birmingham, uk (till Dec 1st)

Many people are depressed because they have spent years fruitlessly trying to get a job without success, there are well over a million able bodied people who cannot find work, what chance do those with health problems have?

Who is going to employ a cleaner with health problems when there are plenty of fit and eager workers from Eastern Europe who are wiling to live and work in conditions most people in this country would unacceptable?

You only have to look at the football Premiere League to see what effect cheap foreign workers have on employment prospects for British workers.

Of course the knock-on effect will be depressed wages, working conditions and security for majority of British workers
as a select few grow ever richer and social unrest increases.
(Not everybody lives in the South or went to a Public (sic) School).

"Let them eat cake" might sound like a good idea, but it might not be the least well off who are taken out into the back yard....

Marie Buckethead, Affluent South, The People's State.

what? and make them run round it?

chris, london,

The alleged £4.4m the taxpayer shells out for these fat people pails into insignificance when compared to the massive sums the said taxpayer also shells out for the upkeep of FF's and others at the Palace of Westminster in the form of inflated salaries and Gold Plated Pension entitlements!

Mike, Plymouth, UK

Too fat to work. Hmmm...I think I've heard it all now. Plays right into the stereotyping that fat people are lazy, poor things. Indigence is far worse for a person than being made to work. being productive is far better than having no goals in life. You are far more likely to be depressed if you are not doing something to a. help you or b. helping others as in contributing to society. Even if it means cleaning.

It would be kinder to take them out the back yard.....

Chris Dare, Turner's Hill, West Sussex