A BLEAK picture of Britain as “the sick man of Europe” — with almost three million workers suffering long-term illness — has been presented in a damning new report.

The report, published yesterday as part of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)’s Commission on Health and Prosperity, warns the country’s problem of long-term illness has reached “historic proportions.”

It reveals that should long-term sickness continue to grow at the rate it has since 2020, 4.3 million people would be off work by the time of the next parliament.