1 December 2010

What: The Sun publishes an article on “BRITAIN’S shirkers’ paradise”,  quoting work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith as saying that a large proportion of incapacity benefit claimants are cheats, and that Sun readers are right to be “upset and angry” when they see neighbours who do not work.

Why significant: Duncan Smith draws a direct link between the budget deficit and a so-called culture of worklessness said to be created by incapacity benefits – key messaging in the crafting of the “benefit scrounger” narrative. In later years, ministers are careful not to use this kind of rhetoric publicly.