Those signed off feeling depressed classed as incapable of work, says Stride

Mel Stride has previously come under fire for saying doctors over-medicalise conditions that in the past would have been seen as part of the ‘ups and downs of life’. Photograph: Thomas Krych/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

Nearly everyone who gets signed off work for feeling “a little bit depressed” is classified as incapable of work, according to a senior government minister, as Rishi Sunak prepares to announce a new drive to get sick people back into employment.

Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, said on Friday morning that 94% of people who were signed off by their GP with minor mental health problems were listed as unable to work, contributing to what the prime minister will say is a “sicknote culture”.