Benefit Fraud vs Tax Cheats

I picked the following from the comments on an article in the Guardian by Peter Beresford: The Victorians knew a thing or two about benefit cheats. The leader says "David Cameron promised an uncompromising clampdown on benefit fraud, but what does this actually mean for communities?" and the article compares the actuality of the Victorian workhouse system to the rhetoric of the ConDem evil axis.

RosemaryUK comments...

Reform of the benefit system is needed, no one can deny that but not one where 'punishment' and sanctions' are used to 'threaten' disabled people.

As regards fraud...

Annual Benefit fraud estimate £5.2bn
Annual Tax fraud estimate £70bn

Spending on Tax evasion PR/advertising : £633,000
Spending on benefit fraud PR/advertising : £17.5 million
(both figures exclude VAT)
Figures from Hansard.

If any political party had any real morals , they would have condemned this 'campaign' by some media outlets that is raging against those on benefits.

Yes. A few of us have made the same point, though I admit I got it from the Now Show on BBC Radio 4. Another figure to compare is the £150bn that we spend over what is earned in tax. That is to say that is tax fraud were tackled with the same enthusiasm it would make a good contribution to reducing the deficit. Attacking benefit fraud is unlikely to make much difference, though it should of course be tackled. I've said before the noise is Cameron trying to make good with the Tory faithful who think he's a useless cunt who lost a sure thing election against a lame duck Labour government. The noise is out of proportion to the good that he can do - especially on the eve of making massive cuts that will result in 1000's of civil servants being made redundant.

One thing that would make a big difference would be to pursue the well known tax cheat Tony Blair our former Prime Minister who has tied his financial affairs up in such knots that it is very difficult to say for sure what happens to the tens of millions of money coming in from advising foreign investors, and giving lectures, and more recently setting up a bank for the super-rich. See here for instance: Tony Blair under pressure to explain if he is avoiding UK taxes. (Telegraph 3.9.10) and here: The mystery of Tony Blair's finances (Guardian 1.12.09). A good strong example might send a message about social responsibility to the rest of the rich who try to keep from making their contribution to society.

Diagnosis

Had a long talk with my doc today. I have a friend who has Aspergers Syndrome. We have a lot in common and I have sometimes wondered whether I might be on the autistic spectrum. Doc was unconvinced. She thinks I have endogenous depression, though it's interesting that some websites suggest that this term is outdated. Perhaps I have dysthymia - I seem to fit the criteria.

With all the sabre rattling in the war on Benefit fraud and benefits generally I have felt that a clearer diagnosis of my mental health problems might be useful. I did a self-test for Aspergers and came out average for men my age. So that's unlikely then.

Benefit Changes and Fantastic English Weather

This is the forecast for my area the next 20 hours from the BBC website. Basically it's heavy rain and 14C.

Meanwhile the government is denying that their massive spending cuts are not going to hit poor people worse than others. The government keeps saying "We're all in this together". Yeah right!

But they also keep saying "get people off benefits and into work" but once the cuts start to bite, it's going to be interesting to watch the unemployment rate.

I'm trying not to think too much about the cuts until more detail comes out. But the propaganda campaign is in full swing.

Living with English Bachelors

I just overheard one of the MAEBs talking to someone while having a shower, yes, while actually in the shower with the water running talking on his cell phone. Lord, give me strength!

City of Philistines

Cambridge City Council are going to cut spending on libraries by 30% over the next three years, in an attempt to save £20 million. CCC lost money in Iceland investments. This is a fait accompli. They are asking how we want to spread the cuts, but the cuts are a fact. The CCC doesn't believe in consulting people before making decisions. They consult once the decision has been made.

We've seen a series of book shop closures as well, Brown's, Border's and Galloway & Porter.

Outside the university the city is devolving, sinking into the fens.

Welfare Reform - Cameron

So PM Cameron is going to get tough on £1.5 billion in benefit fraud. Firstly this figure contradicts the official figures from the DWP. Benefit Fraud is £330m, down from £850m ten years ago. So where is the PM getting his figures from? Where does the figure of $1.5b come from and why is it 5x the official figure?

According to a report in City Wire (Jan 22):

At £30 billion per year, fraud in the UK is more than twice as high as thought, with tax evasion costing the public purse over £15 billion per year and benefit fraud just over £1 billion.

... Tax evasion is around 3% of total tax liabilities, while benefit fraud accounts for 0.8% of total benefit expenditure.

Apart from the £1b figure (from where?) where is all the hoo-ha about tax evasion?

Again I ask why ordinary people, and people living on benefits are paying for the excesses of bankers and their reckless clients? I don't have a mortgage I wasn't involved in property speculation, or financial mismanagement. I wish the government would leave me the fuck alone and target the people who caused the problems in the first place!

What in reality has happened to the people who caused the financial crisis? Not a fucking thing. They are free to do it all over again, and on past form they will do so.

On the other hand will there come a time when they say "OK, we've cleaned up the system, and we'd like those people who genuinely qualify for benefits to relax and concentrate on getting well, or living well"? No of course there never will, because people everywhere hate the idea of charity which enables a person to live without working. People with that attitude should visit India and see what a society with no social welfare looks like. I'd be a beggar in India - begging for money on the street and living in cardboard boxes.

I don't get a huge amount in reality - just £9200 per year. It's enough to house, cloth and feed me and not a lot more. For which I am more grateful than I can say.

But the news is all about people on benefits being undeserving cheats and thieves. I'm not a thief. I'm genuinely unwell. I get so stressed listening to all this hard talk about people on benefits, it's so upsetting because the distinction between those who genuinely need help and those who don't is blurred. It makes it shameful to rely on the government, even when you have no choice. What David Cameron is saying is that receiving handouts is shameful. But he's a millionaire from a millionaire family - with every privilege provided. He has no idea what it is like to be chronically ill, or to lose the ability to work. He doesn't even need to work.

So watch out everyone on benefits. You are now being pursued by private companies paid to catch you out. You may say that if I'm honest that I have nothing to fear. But unlike an ordinary member of the public I am a suspect merely for claiming what I am entitled to claim. By accepting a benefit, I sign up to allow these private companies to investigate my life. Ordinary people have a right to privacy and are presumed to be innocent, even though there is a lot of crime in the country, the fact that they have possessions does not automatically make them a suspect in all robberies. As of today I am suspected of fraud, just because some people commit fraud. If all people were suspected of tax evasion because some people are guilty of tax evasion, and had to open up all of the bank accounts to private companies paid to expose them, how would they react?

Ha!

For the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, to say that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange might have "blood on his hands" [Guardian 1 Aug], is very much the pot calling the kettle black don't you think?