GB News' hit midday programme, Good Afternoon Britain, returned to screens with presenters Tom Harwood and Emily Carver fronting Wednesday's (June 17) show. The duo were joined by disability coach Maddy Alexander-Grout to discuss the concerning statistics, which reveal that over four million people now claim disability benefits for anxiety.
The interview took a tense turn as Emily clashed with the coach about how people spend the payments, while Tom grilled Maddy on those who abuse the system. This interview also came after it was revealed that the UK spent £4 billion on disability welfare for mental health problems in the last financial year, as claims continue to soar.
Addressing GB News' figures, the guest argued: "I think, to be honest, anxiety is a rare case, but it's also not down to getting a diagnosis and being automatically eligible for things like PIP." Maddy added: "There are rigorous processes that people have to go through to be able to get diagnosed with a lot of different disabilities, and it is done on a case-by-case basis; it's actually how your condition affects you and your ability to function within the world."
Maddy then attempted to explain: "Things like bed-wetting, acne… haemorrhoids," as she stuttered: "Just extra disabilities that people will have, they are very much based on a case-by-case basis."
Emily questioned: "Just on the anxiety, apparently over 500,000 people are now receiving disability benefits for anxiety disorders, and some people can claim up to £10,000 a year. Sorry, but people who are working day in and day out often feel anxious, often have anxiety, often feel low, and they're having to fork out their taxes to pay for people's benefits, who may have quite similar conditions."
The GB News guest argued: "Whilst I get what you're saying, PIP is not an out-of-work benefit, there are so many people who claim disability benefits and are still in work and are still able to work." As she went on, Emily interrupted: "If you're working and you have anxiety, why would you need the PIP payment? What would it be used for? Saying just for anxiety is an extremely rare case... if you're saying anxiety disorders and you're putting things like ADHD, and autism into that bracket, anxiety might be a symptom of those things."
Refusing to back down, Emily repeated: "Ok, so what would it be used for? What would those payments be used for?" "Whatever somebody needs," Maddy responded. "It could be for the doctors' appointments, for private healthcare. It could really be for whatever somebody needs it for, because we don't know what different people are experiencing."
Tom then interjected and questioned: "Do you think there's any abuse in the system?" This prompted Maddy to admit: "Absolutely, there's abuse of all systems, anything benefit-related, there will always be a small percentage who will try and diddle the system, but it's a very, very small amount."
Viewers were left enraged by the interaction, as one furiously asked: "Why do I even go to work?" As another stated: "Anxiety, sleep apnea, bipolar, stress, neurological health needs are part of the suffer's daily life, time to get them working, not sat claiming benefits, pay them using vouchers, remove them from cash." "It's a joke! Its not hard to get as mental health is the new bad back," raged a third. One viewer suggested: "I get how disabling anxiety can be for sure, no shame from me, but I want this feckless Gov to look at why modern Britain is so anxiety-inducing, rather than pay people to stay at home in their safe zone."
