So-called “sickfluencers”, who coach people on how to claim benefits, have been blamed for the surge in benefits claims.
Helen Whately, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said previous campaigns to improve mental health care had fuelled a rise in benefits claims for conditions such as anxiety and ADHD.
The rise of sickfluencers has previously been condemned by Robert Jenrick, who warned that people were being taught how to “game the system”.
Mrs Whately, who has previously campaigned on mental health issues, argued that some people with milder mental health conditions should be supported into work, rather than be taught how to receive benefits.
She told The Times: “I turned up as somebody who campaigned on mental health and really cared about it.
“But what was an unintended consequence of the campaign for better mental health care is much more of a medicalisation of milder mental health — and a huge surge in claims for those conditions like anxiety and for neurodiversity, particularly ADHD.”
She also said her own personal experience of serious mental illness within her own family had given her a “moral purpose” to reform the benefits system.
The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary said the welfare system was now working in a “way that nobody intended it to”.
She added: “As a compassionate person, and as most people in this country, I feel that we should help those who are most seriously sick and disabled.
“But our system has gone far beyond that to an extent that it is doing a disservice to people actually with a milder health condition. These are people who could be better off supported to be at work, but instead, the system incentivises them to be on welfare and unemployed.”
Mrs Whately said the Government should “assess effectively” who genuinely needs help and take a “courageous” approach to welfare.
She accused Labour of being unwilling to take support from those currently in receipt of benefits.
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“You’ve got to do it,” she said. “You’ve got to say, ‘if we want there to be a welfare system for those who are most disabled and face really substantial extra costs and challenges, then we have got to target the support’.”
Her remarks follow the Conservatives’ plans to slash the ballooning benefits bill by £36billion to fund defence and meet John Healey’s three per cent of GDP target.
Those plans would cut around £13.7billion from tighter rules for sickness and disability benefits.
The party said it would end personal independence payments (PIP) eligibility for lower-level mental health conditions and reassess current claimants under tough rules.
Alan Milburn, who leads the Government’s review into welfare, previously admitted personal independence payments (PIP) were “no longer fit for purpose”.
A Labour spokesman told the newspaper: “The Conservatives designed and implemented this benefit system, which has driven large numbers of people to be signed off and written off.
“Their last year in Government, after 14 years of failure, saw the welfare bill rise by a record £33billion, in a single year, with no meaningful reforms.
“We are tackling their collapse in face-to-face assessments, bringing in personalised employment support for sick and disabled people and spreading opportunity to young people through the Youth Guarantee. Further reforms will follow the Milburn and Timms Reviews.”
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