Refusing the Government programme will be seen as a failure to do everything possible to find a job—resulting in potential benefit sanctions.
In what some are calling another example of Labour's creeping nanny state, Wes Streeting has announced a plan that could force unemployed Britons to lose weight—or face the consequences. According to a leaked source within the Department of Health, Labour’s government is preparing to strip benefits from those who refuse to comply with a new weight-loss programme. If you're overweight and on universal credit, watch out—your payments could soon depend on how much you weigh.
'Voluntary' weight-loss drug.
Streeting’s official statement was far more innocuous, pitching the idea as a "voluntary" initiative to improve the health of benefit claimants. The plan includes a weight-loss drug—rumoured to be Semaglutide—that will be offered free of charge to those deemed obese by the state. But behind this seemingly generous offer lies a more sinister motive: a second, less-publicised policy that threatens to cut off universal credit for those who refuse the weight-loss regime.
You'll be punished if you don't sign up.
While Labour touts the idea as a “voluntary” solution to the UK’s obesity crisis, sources claim that the government is preparing to punish those who don’t sign up. Refusing the programme will be seen as a failure to do everything possible to find a job—resulting in potential benefit sanctions. Once again, the heavy hand of Labour is poised to interfere in people’s lives, taking advantage of the most vulnerable to push its paternalistic agenda.
Lose the pounds or lose the payments.
This approach is aimed primarily at the unemployed who are overweight or obese—categories that often overlap. Those in regions plagued by both high unemployment and obesity rates, particularly in post-industrial areas, could find themselves facing a stark choice: lose the pounds or lose the payments. With the NHS overseeing the programme, claimants would be expected to undergo regular healthcare screenings, submit to the weight-loss drug, and follow strict diet and exercise plans.
Reduce the strain on the NHS.
Labour claims this will reduce the strain on the NHS by tackling obesity, which they say is linked to long-term unemployment. The official line is that this will give claimants a better chance of finding work by improving their health, confidence, and ability to work. But the reality is far more coercive. What starts as a supposedly voluntary scheme will undoubtedly evolve into yet another bureaucratic nightmare, with vulnerable people forced into treatment under the threat of losing their benefits.
Government will decide what constitutes "doing enough".
Critics have already pointed out that this will further stigmatise the unemployed, punishing them for circumstances often beyond their control. And while Labour might claim that this plan is about improving health, it’s hard to ignore the authoritarian undertones. The government will now decide what constitutes "doing enough" to seek work—and for the obese, that apparently means shedding the weight, or else.
Is this really the compassionate, supportive welfare system Labour claims to offer? Or just another example of how a Labour government would micromanage the lives of ordinary people under the guise of “helping” them? One thing’s for sure—if you’re out of work and carrying extra pounds, your universal credit could soon be on the chopping block.
Related:
'Very Soon there will be Hundreds of Health Officials Claiming it was Your Own Choice' Robert Malone
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