The Clarkson’s Farm star, 66, made the comments after Andy Burnham refused to rule out tax rises as a means of fixing adult social care in England. The Prime Minister promised to end decades of government inaction on the matter, but said there would be ‘difficult decisions’ on funding.
In the latest iteration of his long-running tirades in The Times, Clarkson said those on social care benefits should be more grateful to taxpayers, and compared those claiming PIP, as well as other benefits, to his dogs.
‘Uber benefits scroungers’
Describing his three pups as ‘uber benefits scroungers’, Clarkson recounted the thousands spent in vet bills and the nighttime moments of ill health he has had to attend to. However, he said the oodles of gratitude his dogs lavish on him for the services gave him his ‘big idea’.
‘At present, people who work hard, feed, clothe and entertain those who won’t work at all. And what do we get in return? Nothing,’ Clarkson wrote.
A thank-you letter process
He then suggested that Andy Burnham implement a process whereby claimants write to taxpayers to show their gratitude.
‘It’s very simple. Every week, when the benefits are paid, the recipient is given the email address of a randomly selected person who is getting up and going to work every day,’ he wrote. ‘And they are told that unless a proper and genuine email is sent, thanking the working person for their generosity, the benefits will stop. And I’m not talking about a cursory “thanks mate”. I want fulsomeness. I want to hear what they’ve done with the £194 I gave them that week.’
‘And I want effusiveness as well. I want to feel their gratitude. “It is SO kind of you to go to work every day so that I don’t have to. Thanks to you I was able to buy an even bigger television this week”.’
The TV presenter signed off the column with the suggestion that the prospect of penning thank-you letters might convince PIP claimants that ‘they don’t have a head-based neurodivergence issue after all’.
