The Edition: is Britain losing its sense of fairness?
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 10 April 2026
⏱️ 49 minutes
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Summary
Has Britain become a freeloader’s paradise, asks the Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons in our cover piece this week. Michael analyses ‘the benefits of benefits’, at a time when Britain’s welfare bill is burgeoning and most households are struggling with cost of living. For example, while a family of four can expect to pay £111 to visit the Tower of London, that is just £4 total on Universal Credit (UC), and for London Zoo it is £108 compared to £26. Michael is not arguing against the idea of helping those in need, but pointing out that – as the benefits bill continues to increase – this is another case of governments prioritising ‘welfare over work’ and ultimately squeezing the working poor. And the problem is set to continue: ‘we are nowhere near peak welfare’ Michael warns. Is the system fair?
On this week’s Edition, Lara Prendergast is joined by Michael, assistant content editor William Atkinson and political commentator – and founder of Conservative Home, Tim Montgomerie. William argues that such discounts are part of the ‘infantilisation’ of those on UC and that there has been a systematic failure to confront the structural issues preventing people from returning to work. While Tim, a Reform supporter, defends Nigel Farage’s pledge to retain the Triple Lock for pensioners, on the grounds of achieving power.
Also on the episode: does Britain need 'Anglo-Gaullism' – and could Nigel Farage be the answer; are we about to see the end of Viktor Orban – and why have some conservatives changed their minds on the Hungarian Prime Minister; should Kanye West have been banned from Britain; and the Artemis II moon mission – inspiring, restoring faith in America’s ability to lead, too expensive – or all three?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The British right is up for grabs. As May's local elections approach, the Conservatives face strong competition from Reform UK. |
| 0:07.9 | Join the Spectator's assistant editor, Isabel Hardman, for the spectator debate, the fight for the right, on Wednesday, the 29th of April in London. |
| 0:15.5 | We will pit the Conservatives represented by Matthew Saeed and Dominic Johnson against Reform UK, represented by Matt Goodwin and Danny Kruger. |
| 0:23.6 | To see which party truly represents the future of the right, book your tickets at spectator.com forward slash fight. |
| 0:36.1 | Hello and welcome to The Edition. |
| 0:39.0 | I'm Laura Prendergars, the Spectator's executive editor, and the latest issue of the magazine has just gone to press. |
| 0:46.0 | To discuss what's in it, I'm joined now by our economics editor, Michael Simmons, our assistant content editor, William Atkinson, and the political commentator and founder of Conservative Home, Tim Montgomery. |
| 1:03.3 | This week's cover has the headline Benefits Treats, |
| 1:06.4 | and in it, Michael Simmons declares that Britain has become a freeloader's paradise. |
| 1:11.6 | Michael, I thought I'd start by asking you to outline some of the fairly eye-popping statistics |
| 1:15.6 | that you start your piece with. |
| 1:16.6 | Well, I think viewers of this show and readers of the spectator will be familiar with the |
| 1:23.6 | large S of our benefit system is something we cover in this magazine quite a lot. |
| 1:29.5 | But what I've looked at in this piece is the kind of benefits you can get from being on benefits, |
| 1:36.1 | so universal credit, but there are not directly to do with the state. And that is that many of our |
| 1:42.7 | most popular tourist attractions, specifically in London, |
| 1:45.8 | but up and down the country, offer discounts if you claim UC or various other benefits. |
| 1:53.6 | Now, you might say that's fair enough, but some of the examples that we begin the piece |
| 1:57.9 | with are really quite staggering. So what we've done is compared a family of four for various attractions. |
| 2:06.0 | The most egregious one to me is the Tower of London. |
| 2:09.0 | The family of four, a full price ticket comes in at £11. |
| 2:14.7 | If one of the parents is in receipt of benefits, then everyone can get in for four pounds. |
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