GEORGE Osborne has told unemployed people that they must earn Scouting badges to keep their benefits.
The plan would teach new skills like hill-walking, lighting fires and playing games of chess with a disinterested vicar.
Osborne said: “People say there are no jobs. But scouts manage to find them simply by knocking on old ladies doors and offering to weed their garden for 50p.
And by working towards your DIY, Astronomy and Customer Contact Solutions Operative badges you can give yourself new employment options.
“To warm down, Akela will organise a game of British Bulldog with 2.49 million people across the entire UK.”
He added: If youve done five years on the dole, well abandon you in the middle of Dartmoor with a compass and a pack of freeze-dried sausages and its up to you to get home.
“This will teach pathfinding skills, encourage independence and hopefully thin out numbers.