Wake up, Britain! You’re hurtling towards the brink too…

I AM angry. No, let’s cut to the chase. I am livid. In fact, so livid I need to go and lie down and let my blood pressure return to somewhere approaching normal.

Meanwhile, why not flick ahead to the crossword page or go and have a coffee …

Hey, back again. Apologies for the short interruption but glad to report the pulse rate’s stabilised. Not a lot. But enough. Why so LIVID? The reason is the article I just read about the Nigerian mother (Bimbo Ayelabola) costing the NHS thousands of pounds after having quintuplets whilst on a visitor visa to the UK.

Now, NHS treatment is not ‘free’. It’s paid for by the UK taxpayer and this, er, … “person” (EWN’s a family newspaper, after all) is NOT one. She’ll never repay a penny and is doubtless already applying not just for permanent right to remain but benefits for herself, her kids, extended family, Nigeria …

But, Bimbo, should your application be rejected, don’t worry! I’m sure the endless supply of all those nice, taxpayer-funded human rights lawyers are already queuing up in their sharp suits for you.

This has all to do with getting something for nothing. Rather like the latest Greek bailout (estimated at €120 bn) – and protests. Protests at having to “give” something in return for all the dosh. In fact, if half as much energy were expended on its goods and services as on protesting, Greece might at least be seen as ‘attempting’ to pull itself back from the brink of bankruptcy rather than hurtling into it – and inevitable default.

Back in the UK, another instance of this runaway ‘compensation culture’ is the £2 million payout last year to schoolchildren for playground accidents. One pupil cut by a thorn got £3,000, another £25,000 after falling from a tree while another, who became “anxious” after wandering off, £5,000. Good grief!

And then there are all those Council Chief Executives – many earning more than the PM – who continue to funnel UK taxes into fatcat salaries/ pension pots for themselves while administering increasingly swingeing cuts to public services to the “little people”. Again, something for nothing.

Is it really any wonder that people like Bimbo take advantage of the British taxpayer when the UK’s thriving compensation culture not only opens the door for them but carries them over the threshold?

Nora Johnson’s novel, The De Clerambault Code (www.nora-johnson.com) available at Amazon in paperback and as eBook. Profits to Cudeca