As Leanne Woods has argued more articulately than I the government are getting off on scapegoating the poor these days. It seems hardly a week goes by without a new crackdown on benefit cheats, the 'workshy', or immigrants.
Quite obviously benefit fraud is a serious, and populist, matter for politicians. Yet the costs of benefit fraud do need to but into perspective. Not that our tabloid press, which leads the foaming at mouth brigade, are too keen on perspective. It is estimated that in 2007 the cost of benefit fraud was £690 million. Up a remarkable £678 million for the £18 million of 2006. (This leap makes one wonder how the figures are calculated, or where all these additional fraudsters are coming from). These are a not insignificant sums per annum, and could better spent, but it is substantially less than the costs of the taxpayer bailout of the financial system, for example.
The vitriol aimed at the 'undeserving poor', and all the valid claimants who are caught in the cross fire, would be better directed at the unregulated financial system that treated the UK economy as a casino chip. Unfortunately for anyone who holds a flame for the values of objectivity and truth it is much easier to cast aspersions than take responsibility.
Costs in the UK Economy:
Benefit Fraud: £18 million to £690 million (see above)
Cost of MPs expenses: £86.8 million
War on Iraq: £at least 5 billion
Replacing Trident: £76 billion
Corporate Tax Avoidance: £25 billion
UK Bank Bail-out: £500 billion
Now there are lies damn lies and statistics. It is not my intention here to question the relative merits of defence expenditure and so forth (although you can probably guess my position just from the tone of this article). But clearly, as the evidence bears out, the amount of column inches, and level of hysteria, directed at the minority of fraudulent benefit claims is entirely disproportionate. I just wish collective indignation and anger was directed with greater urgency elsewhere.
What else are they hiding?
14 years ago
5 comments:
Whilst I might sympathise with your sentiments on the items in your list of six, only one is fraud, the others are about judgement.
Fair point- I shall address this over the weekend.
Cost of BAE Corruption- 60 million-
Costs of Corporation Tax avoidance- already listed- this is fraud too and receives much less media coverage.
Cost of NHS generic drugs fraud- £100m+
cost of supermarket price fixing
(also fraud) '10s of millions of pounds'
If you hang out on the SFO website you can find out more... but on the whole serious fraud gets little coverage.
If your facts are correct, and I am not casting doubt, they are all crimes except the military expenditure.
And that's where the big bucks are ...... and are the matters of politics, could it be the greater fraudsters are the politicians ?
the level of military expenditure- without doubt- proves we have a war economy. This is another story though...
I agree that our political system does not encourage participation at any level. It also permits for political careerism. Important issues are under examined in the mainstream press because they are not deemed news-worthy- All this undermines collective integrity of politicians.
This is why I am an advocate for greater Welsh powers, and see the merit in local politics. Not because an extra layer of politicians, Welsh over English, is inherently better- but devolving power and putting it into the hands of as many as possible is good for democracy, and offers the opportunity for at least reform.
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