Claimspotting Edinburgh the capital for ‘druggies on dole’
Boy dies after eating fish and chips
EXCLUSIVE MATTHEW DAVIS EDINBURGH is living up to its Trainspotting reputation, with new figures revealing the city has the most drugaddicted benefits claimants in the UK.
The film highlighted the Scottish capital’s heroin problem when it was released in 1996.
And now, with Trainspotting 2 in cinemas, the real-life situation still mirrors the screen scenes.
More people in Edinburgh claim they are unable to work than anywhere else in the UK.
In the movie all the main characters live in a world dominated by heroin addiction.
Main character Renton, played by Ewan McGregor, ends up “choosing life” over drugs. He goes “cold turkey” after the death of his friend Tommy from HIV, leaving his downbeat mates behind and escaping the city with a bag full of cash.
Now the latest figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) show there are almost 1,000 people who have failed to make a similar escape from the city’s drug culture and are so hooked on drugs they cannot function properly.
The DWP figures reveal 970 people living in Edinburgh claim benefits because they are unable to work due to their drug habit.
The number of benefits claimant addicts in Edinburgh is more than any other local authority in the UK…and they account for almost one in 20 people in the city on Employment Support Allowance (ESA).
The benefit, which can be £102.15p a week, is paid to people too sick or disabled to hold down a fulltime job.
Across the UK the government is paying for 29,840 people to pick up this benefit due to drug addiction – a slight fall on the figures for previous years.
A DWP spokesman said: “Being drug or alcohol dependent in itself does not entitle someone to disability benefits.
“Any benefit entitlement will relate to associated long-term health effects. Because of our welfare reforms, we look at what work people can do, rather than just writing them off on sickness benefits as happened in the past.” POLICE are investigating the death of a nine-year-old boy who apparently suffered an allergic reaction to fish and chips.
Paramedics were called out to a primary school at lunchtime on Friday but could not save him.
The victim, who has not yet been named, was taken to a nearby hospital where he died at around 2.30pm. A parent whose son is in the same class claimed his allergies to fish were well known. CINDY PATTISON But the victim’s uncle said the boy was only allergic to nuts.
Police are now working with the school and Birmingham City Council to establish the circumstances of the tragedy. The boy’s uncle, who gave his name as Mo, said: “The death is a mystery and we won’t know the reason until there has been a proper investigation.
“My nephew had a dairy allergy THE local authority areas with the greatest number of people claiming ESA due to their drug habits: 1) Edinburgh (970) 2) Bristol (940) 3) Glasgow (900) 4) Birmingham (670) 5) Bournemouth (470) but was not allergic to fish as far as is known, so it is wrong to suggest that is what happened. “He was a bright, very happy child and he was loved by his school.”
The father of another pupil at Al-Hijrah School in Small Heath, Birmingham, said parents were outraged that he was fed fish in the first place.
The dad said: “All the parents are mortified and furious that this has been allowed to happen.” 6) Aberdeen (440) 7) Bradford (390) 8) Leeds (390) 9) Plymouth (390) 10) Manchester (390)