A mother with very warped Christmas values ...

Claire Young is a devoted mother of six. as for all of us, Christmas is a special time for her and her family. So special that she boasts she has spent £2,000 on gifts for her kids and will give them 11 presents each. From a PlayStation 4, to lego, to a Peppa Pig farm — the list seems endless.

What makes it all the more remarkable is that Claire and her husband Trevor, a former bricklayer, have not worked a single day this year.

They live off around £900 benefits a week — around the equivalent of a £65,000-a-year salary before tax.

i don’t begrudge Claire’s generosity — it’s a wonderful thing to give and receive at Christmas. But isn’t spending £2,000 on presents when you’re living off benefits a flagrant abuse of our very generous welfare system? Particularly when the average family spent less than half of that — £810 — on their entire festivities last year?

Claire is unrepentant. She says she’s frugal and puts aside £50 a week towards Christmas: ‘We live on the breadline, so anyone who has an opinion can b****r off.’

But even if she is more interested in her rights than her duties to society, surely she should be thinking about the effect of her selfish attitude on her children. By spoiling them in this way, by making them believe they can have anything they want simply by asking for it — even if their parents don’t work — she is robbing them of any drive to better themselves and is in danger of ensuring they will end up on benefits, too.

True, Claire has a painful condition called fibromyalgia, which causes fatigue, and Trevor is her carer. But she’s not too tired to shop, is she?

What the couple should be teaching their children is the true meaning of Christmas. a celebration of Christ’s birth for believers, but also a time to treasure family and friendship, love and laughter. love doesn’t mean a PlayStation on the taxpayer.

When i was a child, we got one present each from Santa and a box of chocolates.

it was the love with which they were chosen that mattered. and that we had parents who worked to make our lives better than their own.

Claire insists: ‘Just because we’re on benefits shouldn’t mean they miss out.’ But her children are missing out on one of the most important gifts in life — the example set by hard-working parents who do their best to provide for their children.