Let's Bribe Our Way Out of Trouble

[Gunnery Sergeant Highway]

Given all the doom 'n' gloom in that doom 'n' gloom thread, it seems the government's actual response to soaring GPs' salaries and soaring numbers of people claiming incapacity benefit is to bribe GPs not to sign people off on the sick and to change its name.

GPs may be offered cash incentives to encourage patients on Incapacity Benefit back to work, Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton has confirmed.

He said the government wanted to talk to doctors "and some of their patients" so that "people don't just end up on benefit when there are other options".

In a planned shake-up of welfare reforms, Mr Hutton said the name for Incapacity Benefit would also change. It suggested people were incapable and we should not take that view, he said.

GP cash plan in benefit shake-up

Should sort the country out in no time.

[wendigo100]

GPs may be offered cash incentives to encourage patients on Incapacity Benefit back to work, Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton has confirmed.

Cash incentives to do their job properly?

In a planned shake-up of welfare reforms, Mr Hutton said the name for Incapacity Benefit would also change. It suggested people were incapable and we should not take that view, he said.

What is he talking about?

[Gunnery Sergeant Highway]

Cash incentives to do their job properly?What is he talking about?

I suppose in the latter respect he is correct: many, if not most people on incapacity benefit are capable of doing work. It's just that GPs have been tacitly encouraged to sign people off on the sick (for which they are now being criticised) because it keeps the headline unemployment figures down. Fairly typical of the current shower (but greatly indicative of the scheme's true purpose) is that the answer is to change its name rather than get the shirkers and malingerers back to work.

Still, I agree, the idea of being bribed to do your job properly has great appeal to me. Just a shame it only seems to happen in public services.

[hyperD]

In a planned shake-up of welfare reforms, Mr Hutton said the name for Incapacity Benefit would also change. It suggested people were incapable and we should not take that view, he said.

What is he talking about?

This is a pre-emptive response by liebour to the Tories drive to reveal what most of us have worked out all along: that incapacity benefits have been used to hide the true numbers of "unemployed".

Changing the name is an oft-used tactic to distract the electorate in the same way as sleight-of-hand is used in card tricks. Change the name to something a little more sympathetic and you have the very definition of a moving target.

Bit like how liebour calculate inflation now...