It is a great shame, I think, that the political problems which most need the political parties to be united in their response, are in fact the ones in which political parties see the biggest opportunity.

The NHS has always been a good example of this, of course. Contrary to the view of much of the public, most politicians are fairly sensible folk, and whether SNP, or Labour, or Tory, or Lib Dem, they know that the NHS is not working. They know it provides poor value for money, and they know their constituents are poorly served by it. One might think they would unite in their response, and perhaps participate in a cross-party plan to save the concept of state-funded universal healthcare. But no, of course, because the political opportunity to criticise rather than collaborate is too strong.

For those of us outside the political bubble, this is the worst of politics. And, sadly, we are seeing the same phenomenon again this week in relation to the Labour UK Government’s proposed changes to welfare payments, specifically to the various sickness benefits.

The facts are horrifying. Over seven million people in the UK claim sickness benefits – up two million since Covid. More than one million of them are under 25. Almost half of them are for mental health conditions, and much of it is self-certified, in other words there is no requirement to see a doctor in order to obtain benefits.

Only 20 years ago, sickness benefits cost the country £25 billion. This year it cost £65bn, and by 2030 it is projected to exceed £100bn. The entire budget of the NHS is just over £200bn. These are eye-watering figures, and politicians, who as I said are mainly........

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