•
Half Man Half Biscuit the notable cynico-rock group from The Wirral, UK, named their first album "
Back in the DHSS" as a pun on the earlier single by
the Beatles ("
Back in the USSR") and a nod to the growing unemployment under the Thatcher administration of the 1980s. •
UB40 (a
reggae group from
Birmingham, whose first album was released in 1980) was named after the form issued by the DHSS to those claiming unemployment benefit, the full name of which was Unemployment Benefit form 40. • British group
Wham! mention the "DHSS" in their song "
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)". • Punk poet
Attila the Stockbroker's poem "Russians in the DHSS" satirized the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union in Thatcher-era Britain. • In
The Young Ones episode "
Bomb" Rick attempts to write a threatening telegram to the British Government through a DHSS office which he mistakes for the post office. • In
Yes Minister it is mentioned by one of the characters, when sitting in a round-table meeting in relation to equal opportunities for women. ==References==