Has she neigh shame? Mother-of-eight on benefits buys horse
An octomum who receives £26,000-a-year in benefits has defended her decision to spend thousands of pounds on a horse, saying: "It's like buying a car, what's the difference?"
Former stripper Marie Buchan put aside £500 to buy the animal from a supplier in the Black Country, with food, stable and delivery costs likely to send her annual outlay up to £3,600 a year.
The jobless 35-year-old said she planned to splash out on a 14 hands cob mare from Bilston yesterday, with a stable already sorted out in Halesowen.
She has been panned by critics who have accused her of exploiting the benefits system.
Brummie Ms Buchan, whose eight children are aged between three and 15, said: "I want a horse and I’m going to get it. I’ve wanted one for a long, long time – since before I had the kids.
"I’m going to ride it. I wouldn’t mind getting a horse that needs breaking in, more as a challenge than anything.
"The haters are going to hate, I know they are. But I grew up around horses and now it’s time to have my own."
Ms Buchan previously caused fury when she appeared on This Morning and said she preferred saving her care worker wages for a boob job rather than using it for her family, insisting 'child tax credits and working tax credits pay for the kids'.
She has the £600-a-month rent on her four-bedroom council house paid for out of the public purse, and also claims £440 a month in child benefit and £1,604 child tax credits.
She says she can't work at the moment due to depression - after blaming sexism and 'sleazy men' for preventing her from getting her dream job as a mechanic.
Ms Buchan said she has applied for dozens of positions after gaining a Level 2 diploma in mechanics but had been knocked back on each occasion.
Two years ago she complained that the Government was not supporting larger families who, she said, would feel there was 'no point' in finding work until their children are older.
James Price, Campaign Manager at The TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The benefits system is there to provide a safety net for when people fall on hard times, not act as a source of income for life.
“At a time when the tax burden is at a 40-year high, taxpayers certainly shouldn’t be saddled with thousands of pounds for someone to have a pet horse.
“Taxpayers will rightly feel that they are the ones who are being taken for a ride.”
