DWP told to reduce payments for 660,000 claimants and end 'moral crisis'

The Department for Work and Pensions has been told the system is "unsustainable". It is an "economic and moral crisis", the Telegraph's Philip Johnston has warned. Johnston was responding to data showing 660,000 households receive welfare payments greater than the average worker’s annual wage of £32,500. Around 16,000 get £60,000, which is equivalent to an income of more than £80,000 before tax. Johnston said: "It is extraordinary to think that a family with no one working, or perhaps a member only temporarily employed, might receive as much money as a professional such as a senior teacher, a lawyer or a GP. When people who work hard, pay their mortgages, bring up their families and eke out a reasonable standard of living without any handouts see those who do nothing live a good life they cannot afford they are angry and demoralised." Neil O’Brien, the shadow minister for policy development, said: “The real-terms growth and scale of really large benefit claims from working-age households make the case for a return to welfare reform stronger.” The Conservative Party MP added: “We need reforms across all types of benefits – and particularly the household benefit cap, which is no longer really constraining the growth of really large claims. “Some households are getting a lot more in benefits than the average person gets to take home after working full-time. We need a system that’s fair to taxpayers as well as those benefiting from it.” A Government spokesperson said: “The 2 per cent of households receiving this level of support have the highest needs and require extra assistance. The benefit cap exempts households where one or more residents have a severe disability requiring extra support and are among the most vulnerable in our society and it is right that they receive it.” Johnston said: "The objection is not to people who are disabled and cannot work. The system has always been there for them. The resentment is reserved for those that everyone suspects can work but won’t because they are able to get enough from the system to live on – and in some cases very comfortably."