An alarmist headline in the Daily Mail today shockingly labels the Isle of Wight as the ‘benefits capital’ of the country.
The article, by Steph Cockroft, starts by saying,
“Forget Benefits Street – the area claiming the most in welfare payments is the Isle of Wight where residents pocket half a BILLION of state handouts every year”
She goes on to say, “The Isle of Wight has been revealed as England’s benefits hotspot”.
The damaging headline has spread widely across social media.
Size of pension share
It’s only when the reader gets past the first three paragraphs and large photo, that the article states that more than half the money was actually given out as pensions. OnTheWight has discovered the actual percentage is 60%.
As everyone knows, there’s a very large population of retired residents on the Island.
The actual break down
OnTheWight has found out the breakdown of how the figure is made up
Largest constituency in the country: Ignored
As pointed out by reader @ScrappySPJ, it’s also the largest constituency in the country, so as the figures quoted are broken down in to Parliamentary constituencies, this is vital.
More people equals more costs.
@onthewight might also have something to do with the IW being THE LARGEST PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY. What an idiotic story.
— ScrappySPJ (@ScrappySPJ) October 2, 2015
Further down the Daily Mail article (which many people might not reach) it also admits that when pensions removed from the equation, the Isle of Wight is not even in the top 20 of those constituencies with the highest benefit bill.
They say,
“And the Isle of Wight does not get a look in when the pension is taken out of the equation.”
Support for the Mail?
It’s understood the Daily Mail sells very well on the Isle of Wight. We wonder whether their loyal customers will now think twice before buying it in the future.
Also covered by The Mirror
Thanks to OnTheWight reader, Dalek, for pointing out the story is also covered by The Mirror. Unfortunately, The Mirror doesn’t have the good grace to point out that if pensions are removed from the equation, the Isle of Wight does not even appear in the top 20.
Daily Mail // The Mirror: Please think twice before clicking on the source links as the papers will benefit from you following it to read their article.
Edit 15:09: Added breakdown of figures and added more text on why IW being the largest constituency is a vital fact.
