"Long term incapacity benefits were not part of the entitlements package"
Yes they were. I worked in a benefits office in 1980. I remember them as 'DisBen', 'IVB' and 'Supp Ben'. (Disability Benefit, Invalidity Benefit and Supplementary Benefit). There were certainly long-term claims for all of those, many appropriate, such as care home residents and so on. The names of these benefits have changed several times since, but the basic design remains.
Suggest rephrase to something like
the numbers of long term benefit claimants has steadily risen, while the focus has always been on the more politically sensitive but short term unemployment headcount.
Regarding NZ lamb, I seem to remember there was a ruckus when the UK joined the 'Common Market' as we called it in 1973, because tariffs restricted our Oz / NZ meat imports. I was only 11 at the time, but my Gran was complaining about it...
