Deirdre Kelly, often referred to as the ‘mother hen’ of Benefits Street, was once at the heart of a community where approximately 95 percent of residents were unemployed and dependent on state assistance.
Known widely as White Dee, the 54-year-old became a prominent figure by asserting that her friends and neighbors in the so-called ‘welfare ghetto’ of Birmingham’s James Turner Street were merely accessing what they were rightfully entitled to.
The Channel 4 documentary series that featured Dee stirred significant controversy nationwide, as some participants openly boasted about exploiting the benefits system.
Now, more than a decade since the show’s original airing, Dee has transformed her life. She no longer relies on welfare and has embarked on a mission to support those in need in Birmingham’s Soho Road area by establishing a food bank and community hub.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Ms. Kelly shared her evolving perspective on benefits abuse: “I can also see the other side now. We open the floodgates to people who are just using the system. Because they’ve now been allowed to use the system.”
Remaining forthright, Dee also offered a scathing critique of the current government, saying, “Obviously since Labour came in, the whole world thought Keir Starmer is the man for the job, [and] have our backs. Big mistake that was wasn’t it?”
She said working people are aggrieved about the amount of tax Chancellor Rachel Reeves is asking them to pay after this week’s Budget. ‘You can see where people are coming from, the harder they work the more tax the Government are now going to be taking off them’, she said.
Dee said the show ‘ripped the heart’ out of James Turner Street and wrecked her life. She had to change her home to protect her children and admits she has also changed her attitude towards benefits.
In her community work she sees many families in need of genuine help but admits there is now a ‘culture’ where people will visit foodbanks simply because: ‘If it’s there you get it’. She says some turn up for food up five times a week, partly because ‘they’re bored and have nothing to do’.
Ms Kelly says she believes that Sir Keir Starmer does not have the backs of working people who are angry about how much Rachel Reeves wants to tax them
When Channel 4 first arrived on Benefits Street, it was because this road was remarkable for its high number of welfare claimants. Today, however, it is no longer an outlier
She said of Labour: ‘I think they only released the manifesto for the sake of getting people to vote and then they just don’t do anything they said they were going to do’.
And on the decision to abolish the two-child benefit cap, she said: ‘Have they thought about it properly? I think what would have probably been better is some kind of tier system, so you get this much for the first child, slightly less for the second, third, you know?’
Dee also slammed Rachel Reeves’ Budget, claiming working Britons are increasingly aggrieved about the amount they are being taxed.
‘I think the expression being thrown around at the moment is “the more you work the more you get taxed”, she said.
‘It’s kind of like they are not going to see the benefit, you start to think they might be worse off, which means they might need to go into the system to top up their salaries. Their wages won’t be going up, they’ll still be working hard, if not harder, and they’re going to have more tax taken off them’.
She said: ‘I sat there and I was watching most of it [Budget announcement] and it’s like a playground, watching them heckling each other, throwing insults at each other. These are the people that have been voted to represent them and look how they’re behaving’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her Budget in the House of Commons. She announced the highest tax burden in British post-war history to pay for greater welfare spending
Dee became a huge star in 2014 but is now back working in the community helping the needy
She ended up on Celebrity Big Brother for a reported £50,000 fee
She went on: ‘Nobody that’s working 60 hours a week should not have enough to live on, to not be able to pay their bills, should not have to visit a food bank. The highest number of people visiting food banks are people who are in employment’.
Dee, the matriarch of Benefits Street, became Britain’s most famous benefits claimant and was later paid £50,000 to star in Celebrity Big Brother and secured other highly-paid TV gigs, including a spot on Loose Women.
But she has left that life behind.
She reiterated that she sees poor and starving families coming to her foodbank for help but admits there is now a ‘culture’ where people will visit foodbanks simply because it’s free. Some families come five times per week, she claims.
‘It’s the culture. If it’s there you get it. And then it becomes no longer for just people who need it. That’s how society has let things become’, Dee said.
Asked what she thinks of Rachel Reeves’ scrapping of the child benefits cap, she said: ‘I’m really torn on this one. It’s because I see it from the cost of living side. I see the hardship, I see the poverty, I see the kids going into school without food, families who are really struggling.
‘But I can also see the other side now. We open the floodgates to people who are just using the system. Because they’ve now been allowed to use the system’.
Deirdre spoke from her community hub on Soho Road in Birmingham where she provides a space for those struggling from homelessness and poverty with food, hot drinks and a place to socialise.
Speaking about how she views the benefits system now, she said: ‘No matter what, you’ll always get the ones that are part of the system because they have no choice and because of circumstances, but you’ll then also get the people who use it because it’s so easy.
‘I’ve always argued as well, if you are part of a system where the Government decides how much money you need to live on, it’s not then fair when you have someone who is working 40 to 60 hours a week who then hasn’t got any money to live on.
‘The majority of people on Universal Credit are people in low paid jobs. It’s used to top up their salary. People don’t see that or think about that’.
Dee Kelly, aka White Dee, who now works at a community hub in Birmingham has had her say on the Budget, benefits and Labour
She went on: ‘I’ve always argued as well, if you are part of a system where the government decides how much money you need to live on, it’s not then fair when you have someone who is working 40 to 60 hours a week who then hasn’t got any money to live on.
‘Covid is a prime example, people who were so anti-benefits system lost their jobs and had no other choice than to go into the system. You just have to do what you have to do to exist.’
Dee still hasn’t lost that matriarchal role in society.
Asked about how she has always remained in the same community since the show aired, she said: ‘I always say better the devil you know. That’s my mindset. It does have its bad parts, but everywhere has high crime now. Where do you go now? I’m a firm believer in better the devil you know; I’m telling you the rougher the better. Because you know everyone and they’d have your back 1 million per cent.’
