Sick and Tired

Back in 2004, when Anastacia sang that she was sick and tired of being sick and tired, concerns had already been rising for a decade about the growing numbers of working age Britons 'on the sick'. "Boo! Nasty Tories!" came the cry because back then we were in the euphoria of Gordon Brown's 'no more boom and bust' economy and the nation's socialists were convinced that it could only be boom and boom for the welfare state. Milk and honey and plenty more where that came from.

But where was it coming from? Why, the lovely bankers of course! Those loveable financial prestidigitators, conjuring up endless streams of free money from... from... oh there was no need for us to worry our pretty little heads about it. Here, have some more money and buy yourself something nice. Venture any opinion on the unsustainability of such an arrangement and you were castigated and labelled a Victor Meldrew; a relic whose principles of thrift and fiscal propriety were exactly what had held us back all these years.

But, of course, we were right all along, as we knew we were. Just as throwing money at the problem has never worked for education and the NHS, neither has it done anything to control the raging tide of personal entitlement that has driven our national character underground for year after year. So now, just as we're getting our mojo back a little, courtesy of the Jubilee, the Tour de France and the Olympics, maybe we can raise a little bile to greet this news, hidden in the background noise of the medal count:

A cough? A bit of a bad back, feeling a bit fed up? No problem; sign here and get on the sick. 3.2 million now claim disability living allowance, costing £13.4billion per year. And many have not been reassessed in a decade or more. While Britain's best are out there fighting for gold and glory a good proportion of the malingerers will be sitting in front of the telly, watching, while you go out to work to pay for them.

A typical DLA claimant

Well, I am sick and tired of paying for the sick and tired. In the race of life there are winners and there are losers. And in racing they shoot horses, don't they?