Conservative Helen Whately, "Our welfare bill is out of control.. We can't afford it.. We have a problem of long term unemployed.. Living a life on welfare" #BBCQT My view: Whately wrongly bundles pensions, disability support and unemployment together as “welfare”. Over half of the £323bn total goes to pensioners, including £146bn for the state pension. Much of the rise is due to an ageing population and the triple lock—not people choosing benefits over work. PIP is not an out-of-work benefit: it covers the extra costs of disability, and around one in six claimants works. In fact, 5.6 million disabled people are already in work. The real issue is why disabled people face a 29-point employment gap: NHS delays, poor mental-health support, long-term illness and employers failing to make workplaces accessible. Cutting support will not cure illness or create jobs.