Hunt Calls for Action on UK’s Mushrooming Benefits Bill
Traveloasisspot.com – Former chancellor Hunt calls for action on what he describes as an unsustainable trajectory in Britain’s welfare spending. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Sir Jeremy Hunt argued that telephone-based benefit applications should be scrapped and that millions of post-pandemic claimants should be steered toward medical treatment rather than indefinite state support. His central demand: pull the welfare bill back down to its 2019 run-rate.
The Structural Problem Behind the Spending Surge
Hunt framed the post-2020 explosion in benefits outlays not as a temporary blip but as a structural shift that had been quietly building before the pandemic accelerated it. Welfare spending was trending downward in the years leading up to 2019, he noted, but the global health crisis triggered what he termed a “mushrooming” of recipients that has yet to reverse.
“If we got the welfare bill down to 2019 levels it would save more than £50 billion a year, that’s a lot of money.”
That figure, he stressed, is large enough to fund major public investments or materially reduce borrowing costs across the economy. The former chancellor framed the issue not as a question of compassion but of long-term fiscal sustainability, warning that the current trajectory locks in spending that crowds out other priorities.
Treatment Over “Parking” Claimants
A central pillar of the argument targets the growing number of people signed off work on grounds of moderate anxiety and depression. Hunt contended that the system currently signs off roughly 1,000 individuals every single day, telling them not only that they need not work but that they need not even search for work. The majority of those sign-offs, he said, are now attributed to anxiety and depression diagnoses.
“I think you should say for moderate anxiety and depression we’re not going to park you on benefits, we’re going to give you treatment, which would be a fraction of the cost.”
His position draws on his earlier tenure as Secretary of State for Health, during which he said every doctor he consulted told him that patients with anxiety and depression require social contact and structured engagement. Placing such individuals on indefinite benefits, he argued, isolates them from the world and risks deepening their condition rather than alleviating it.
“It is not very compassionate to park someone with mental illness on benefits so they don’t work for the rest of their lives, it is the worst possible thing you could do for their mental health and their future.”
He was careful to add that he remained “very proud” of the UK’s welfare safety net and was not advocating the removal of support for those genuinely in need. The distinction he drew was between temporary, targeted assistance and open-ended dependency for conditions that are treatable.
Administrative Reform and Energy Policy
Beyond the clinical dimension, Hunt proposed a specific administrative change: ending the ability to apply for benefits by telephone. He argued that in-person or digitally verified applications would reduce errors, deter fraudulent claims, and create a more accountable process. The suggestion sits within a broader Conservative critique of post-pandemic welfare administration, which critics say expanded eligibility criteria and loosened verification standards during the emergency period.
Shifting to energy, Hunt acknowledged that the UK has decarbonised its economy more rapidly than any other major power and no longer generates electricity from coal. Yet he conceded that his former government’s focus on clean energy came at the expense of affordable energy, leaving Britain with the highest energy prices in the developed world.
“But if my government, or the administrations I was in, made a mistake it was that we shouldn’t just have thought about clean energy, we should have thought about cheap energy as well.”
On that basis, he endorsed continued oil and gas drilling in the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in Scottish waters. Consultations on both projects have closed, and the UK Government is weighing whether to grant consent. Hunt argued that, given ongoing instability in the Middle East, Britain should tap domestic hydrocarbon reserves as aggressively as possible — a move that would also sustain thousands of jobs in the Aberdeen oil sector.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly did Hunt propose regarding phone-based benefit applications? He called for the abolition of telephone claims, arguing that in-person or digitally verified processes would cut errors and fraud while increasing accountability in welfare administration.
How much savings did he estimate from returning welfare spending to 2019 levels? Hunt cited a figure of more than £50 billion per year, which he described as sufficient to fund major public investments or reduce borrowing costs.
Does Hunt oppose the welfare state itself? No. He stated he remains “very proud” of the UK’s safety net and distinguished between temporary, targeted support and open-ended dependency for treatable conditions such as moderate anxiety and depression.
What is his position on Scottish oil and gas drilling? Hunt endorsed continued extraction in the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields, arguing that domestic hydrocarbon reserves should be developed aggressively given Middle East instability, while also sustaining thousands of jobs in the Aberdeen sector.
