Call for hate crime law reform, as broadcaster says young people too sick to work are ‘parasites’ 

A right-wing broadcaster will likely not be prosecuted after describing young disabled people on out-of-work benefits as “parasites”, in a case that highlights long-standing concerns about inequality for disabled people in hate crime law.

Isabel Oakeshott, international editor for TalkTV, criticised chancellor Rachel Reeves for failing to announce a “crackdown” on young people on sickness benefits in last week’s budget.

Oakeshott told the TalkTV audience: “It is ludicrous. How many young people are supposedly too sick to work and being supported by the state? 

“You know, these figures are absolutely off-the-chart, and they are completely unjustified.”

She said last week’s budget had removed resources from those who work “in order to keep on sustaining those who frankly can’t be bothered to get out of bed and get themselves out… to… any kind of job and prefer to just sit on the sofa and order their Deliveroo and drive their Motability free vehicle and take everything that the state can offer”. 

Oakeshott, former political editor of The Sunday Times, told presenter Kevin O’Sullivan that “people like you and me and our very many listeners” were “grafting just to try to make ends meet, and basically these people are frankly parasites”. 

TalkTV is owned by News UK, whose other outlets, including The Sun and The Times, have long pushed for a government “crackdown” on social security spending.

It is believed that a number of complaints have been submitted to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom about Oakeshott’s comments.

Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith, a disabled activist and adviser with the charity Long Covid Support, is one of those who has complained to Ofcom.

She told the watchdog in her complaint that the kind of rhetoric used by Oakeshott “causes harm, it is distressing, fear inducing and for those of us who cannot work we feel blamed, vilified and victimised”, while “implying benefit claimants are lazy incites hatred”.

She said there were more than two million people in the UK with long Covid, including many who experience “debilitating fatigue and often need to spend considerable periods of time in bed or on the sofa/chair”. 

It is likely that Oakeshott and TalkTV have breached the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

Section 3.2 of the code says: “Material which contains hate speech must not be included in television and radio programmes… except where it is justified by the context.”

And section 3.3 of the code says: “Material which contains abusive or derogatory treatment of individuals, groups, religions or communities, must not be included in television and radio services… except where it is justified by the context.”

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Every complaint we receive is assessed against our rules before we decide whether or not to investigate.”

Seven years ago, Theresia Degener, who at the time chaired the UN committee on the rights of persons with disabilities, warned that disabled people could be at risk of violence, and even “killings and euthanasia”, because of their portrayal by the government and media as “parasites” who live on benefits.

She said in the BBC interview, in comments that were never broadcast but were reported by Disability News Service (DNS), that “disabled people being portrayed as parasites, living on social benefits, and welfare and the taxes of other people” was “very, very dangerous”.

She said such attitudes “will later on lead to violence against disabled people, we know it, if not to killings and euthanasia”.

John McArdle, co-founder of the disabled people’s grassroots group Black Triangle Campaign, said: “I find it totally unacceptable that in the 21^st century people should be able to brand a whole section of society as parasites.

“Words have repercussions, and I would like to reaffirm wholeheartedly what Theresia Degener said.”

Oakeshott’s comments have highlighted the continuing contradiction in hate crime law, which allows someone to be charged with stirring up hatred on the grounds of race, religion, or sexual orientation, but not on the grounds of disability.

The Law Commission recommended three years ago that this law should be extended to disability and transgender identity in England and Wales, but the last government failed to implement this and many other recommendations from the report.

Dr David Wilkin, a disabled activist, researcher, author* and support worker for victims of disability hate crime, said the Law Commission had “recognised that disabled victims of hate crime (as well as the transgender community) had no protection in law from those wishing to abuse them or from those wanting to stir up hatred and resentment against them”. 

He said: “Were the recommendations of the commission adopted, we would have a robust suite of legislation to protect all disabled people from such crimes. 

“For it not to have been put on the statute book is a wasted opportunity.”

He said there was now a good opportunity for the new government to “take a turn away from the divisive behaviour of summer 2024 and introduce new laws to protect susceptible groups”.

A TalkTV spokesperson told DNS: “We are aware of comments made by Isabel Oakeshott on Talk last week on Kevin O’Sullivan’s nightly political opinion show.

“Although Kevin O’Sullivan’s show is built on personal opinions on the news stories of the day, Isabel Oakeshott failed to caveat her comments to reflect she did not mean all benefit claimants were gaming the system. 

“In debates on this issue, she frequently emphasises the importance of supporting those in genuine need. We regret any offence caused.”

Asked whether this meant that Oakeshott believed that some young disabled people who do not work were “parasites” but just not all of them, the spokesperson declined to comment further.

She also declined to say if this view was shared by News UK.

There was no mention of any apology from Oakeshott.

The Home Office said Labour had committed to changing hate crime laws on aggravated offences, but not yet on the stirring up hate offence and other recommendations made by the Law Commission.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are absolutely committed to tackling all forms of hate crime and have already committed to protect LGBT+ and disabled people by making all existing strands of hate crime an aggravated offence.

“This government is carefully considering the recommendations made by the Law Commission in its report on hate crime legislation.”*Disability Hate Crime: Perspectives for Change, was published by Routledge in September

Credit for this article goes to the Disability News Service