Last week Nigel Farage announced that Lee Anderson MP would be Reform UK’s “new spokesman on welfare”. Though we prefer to give as little publicity as possible to Reform, we consider it is important that readers are reminded of some of Anderson’s previous comments on benefits, especially as we receive emails and posts from claimants on a daily basis telling us they will vote Reform at the next election.
Nigel’s nonsense
Farage announced Anderson’s appointment by explaining:
“There are too many young people being put on disability benefits, being literally cast out of the system, classed as victims, left there. It isn’t good for the economy, it isn’t good for them as human beings. From today, Lee Anderson is going to be our new spokesman on welfare.
“He’s going to work with others and craft policy. And the thing about Lee is that he worked in a Citizens Advice Bureau. You know, he knows there are those that genuinely deserve help, but there are many frankly that don’t.
“And the current system is that [when] you go to your GP, your GP is almost pressurised to put you on the disability register. All of that has to change.”
As the Disability News Service pointed out, the claim that there is such a thing as a “disability register” to decide who gets benefits has been debunked even by the House of Commons library.
Anderson’s attitudes
Below are a small selection of quotes which clearly set out Anderson’s attitude to benefits claimants. Readers are welcome to add their own (linked) examples in the comments section.
“It’s become fashionable now to have mental health problems”
“It’s become fashionable now to have mental health problems, to have your own counsellor, to go for therapy, to have anxiety attacks, to get down to the local benefit centre and sign on for PIP or ESA.
“It’s just fashionable. People complain about anxiety problems, and now I’m sure that back in the day in the village I grew up in where all the men worked down the pit and the women worked the factory, and they had nowt at the end of the week, I’m sure they were stressed, I’m sure they were anxious, I’m sure they had their problems.”
“We didn’t whinge or complain… we just cracked on and got on with it because for us in that village that was normal."
The Sun 4/9/25
“families with 4 or 5 children all with ADHD who were just thrown a load of money each month”
“I saw first hand how people were trapped on benefits. We're some taking advantage of the system? 100% yes. Were many trapped in a system who wanted to work but they were as well off on benefits? 100% yes.
“Did I see families with 4 or 5 children all with ADHD who were just thrown a load of money each month and forgot about? 100% yes.
“Did I see hardworking folk who were working all hours and were no better off than their neighbours who'd never worked in their lives? 100% yes.”
X 7/9/25
“If you don't go to work . . . then we will stop your money”
[Anderson] said that while genuine sick and disabled people deserve support, there are "far too many people in this country swinging their load".
"If you don't go to work, if you don't contribute towards society and be a good citizen, then we will stop your money. Simple as that," Lee declared.
He emphasised that support should be maintained for "genuine sick people, disabled people".
GB News 26/11/24
“reward our workers, not the shirkers”
“Benefits should be a safety net, not a career option. Work should always pay more than benefits, which is why Reform UK will overhaul our benefits system and reward our workers, not the shirkers.”
Telegraph 6/9/25
“They can’t cook a meal from scratch”
“And what we do at the food bank, we teach them how to cook cheap and nutritious meals on a budget. We can make a meal for about 30p a day, which is cooking from scratch.”
“I think you’ll see first-hand that there’s not this massive use for food banks in this country. You’ve got generation after generation who cannot cook properly. They can’t cook a meal from scratch. They cannot budget.”
11/5/22 Guardian
“We should be teaching a man to fish”
“Yes, there is a need for food banks for some people who fall on hard times all of a sudden. But there’s a whole industry now. In my opinion this is a scandal,” he says. “We should be teaching a man to fish. If we get back to the basics, get people to help themselves, give them a hand up rather than a hand out, this country would be even better.”
Telegraph 22/1/23
“I’d see people coming in on two sticks” and then “on the dance floor at the disco”
He takes aim at “those people that quite frankly don’t want to go to work. People who are feigning illness. I used to see them on a daily basis in my time at Citizens Advice Bureau.
“I’d see people coming in on two sticks, or could hardly walk, and then Friday I’d see them downtown on the dance floor at the disco. We know that happens.
“It’s not fair on the decent hard-working taxpayer in this country who puts a shift in, works seven days a week, and never sees the kids because they are working all the hours God sends.”
Telegraph 22/1/23
