An unemployed mother of eight has boasted about the ‘luxuries’ she has been able to buy with taxpayers’ money, claiming her benefits have never held her back.
Marie Buchan, 42, says she has treated herself to breast enlargement, a designer vagina and a horse over the past decade, despite living on benefits for most of her adult life.
Mrs Buchan, who has been dubbed the ‘British welfare queen’, has received a total of around half a million pounds in taxpayers’ money to support her eight children.
But now she says that thanks to her life on the state, she can also enjoy an extravagant lifestyle.
This comes as Prime Minister Sir yesterday announced a crackdown on benefit fraud in a bid to tackle ‘unemployment’.
Speaking at the Labour conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: ‘If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, we will introduce legislation to stop benefit fraud and do everything we can to tackle unemployment.’
Marie Buchan, 42, (pictured) said she has treated herself to a breast enlargement, a designer vagina and a horse over the past decade, despite living on benefits for most of her adult life
Marie Buchan, also known as ‘British care queen’, pictured with her eight children
Mrs Buchan has received a total of around half a million pounds of taxpayers’ money to support her eight children
She sparked outrage in 2018 after travelling to Turkey for a £1,500 breast enlargement, going from a 34A cup to a 34D.
And the following year she flew in again for laser treatment to get a “designer vagina.”
She also bought a horse with her benefits, but said she later had to give him away because she could no longer keep him.
“Being on benefits has never stopped me from doing anything,” Ms Buchan said, according to The sun‘I have had many luxuries.’
‘I paid £600 up front for the horse and then had to pay another £100 a month to keep him at the yard. Food cost about £25 a month,’ said Mrs Buchan, who lives in Selly Oak, Birmingham.
“It was a big mistake. I rubbed it in people’s faces and I flaunted it and I really regret that.”
Ms Buchan has maintained that she used the money she raised at jumble sales to pay for her plastic surgery, but says she now understands why people were outraged.
It is also likely that the items sold at the events were purchased with money she claimed from the state.
The mother of eight, who said she didn’t have much to spend growing up, became eligible for benefits when she had her first child at age 19.
She said that at that time she was receiving benefits intermittently because as soon as she had a child she stopped working.
Mrs Buchan said she ultimately chose to continue receiving benefits so she could focus on raising her children.
She caused outrage in 2018 when she travelled to Turkey for a £1,500 breast enlargement, going from a 34A cup to a 34D
Ms Buchan claims she used the money she raised from jumble sales to pay for her plastic surgeries
She explained that there is little reason to work because her family is ‘better off on benefits’.
“It’s very easy to stay in the system for the rest of your life,” Buchan said.
She previously made headlines after claiming she was forced to use food banks to feed her children due to cuts to her benefits.
Ms Buchan said in 2021: ‘It’s a huge struggle for me. Two of my daughters are now over 16, so my benefits, such as child benefit and tax credit, have been cut.
‘I am now about £160 a week poorer. It is a struggle and I am using food banks to survive. I am actually living on food banks at the moment.
“You have to do what you have to do to survive and I’m so grateful that I can turn to them. They’re a lifesaver for me and for so many other people.”
She continued, “Unfortunately, I’ve been given the nickname Octomum and it’s stuck. It’s definitely stopping me from getting a job.
‘I have applied for a number of jobs. Employers seem enthusiastic at first, but when they see who I am, I am rejected.
“I’m afraid I’ll never be able to shake off the octomum label.”
Mrs Buchan said she ultimately chose to remain eligible for benefits so she could devote herself to raising her children.
Ms Buchan also revealed she has received horrific online abuse from haters telling her she is a ‘s***’ and saying they ‘hope she dies’.
She said: ‘Some of the abuse I get is just plain mean. They call me a parasite, ash*** and they ‘hope I die soon’.
‘Others say I am a ‘profiteer’ and that I have been threatened by men who come to get me and ‘teach me a lesson’.
‘It can be hell sometimes. I don’t know what people think about being so horrible, but they just need to get some sick kicks.
‘It’s sometimes very hard to read that and also terrible for the children. If you’re feeling down, it can make you sink even deeper.
“It has to stop. People don’t understand the impact it has on someone who is in the spotlight. I have contacted the police before about the threats.”