The Telegraph, and others, give prominence to statements by Lord Freud, the welfare reform minister, who says that people found making fraudulent benefits claims will face new penalties, including bans on new claims and having their assets seized.
Lord Freud emphasised that the measures were aimed at those involved in organised fraud and whose criminal activities impact on legitimate claimants.
“We will put a stop to the fraudsters who infiltrate and steal money from our benefit system,” he said in a speech in London, “Criminal gangs and identity fraudsters who persistently steal money meant for the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society will be severely punished.”
We’ve previously mentioned Lord Freud’s involvement with investment bank UBS who recorded the largest losses of any European bank due to the extent of their dealings in the subprime mortgage market. Despite of the effect of the resultant worldwide recession upon the “poorest and most vulnerable people in our society”, you never hear ministers mention “organised fraud” in that particular context - despite evidence to the contrary when the bank agreed in February last year to pay US authorities $780 million and hand over customer details to settle charges.
The announcement of a benefits crackdown is portrayed by the ConDem government as a complementary measure to the anti-tax avoidance package unveiled by Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander who told the recent Lib Dem conference that "There are some people who seem to believe that not paying their fair share of tax is a lifestyle choice that is socially acceptable. It is not. Like the benefit cheat, their actions take resources from those who need them most."
This is of course the same Danny Alexander who exploited existing rules to avoid paying capital gains tax when he sold his taxpayer-funded second home at a profit. Since his speech however, fiscal analysts have pointed out that his initiative seems to be really no more than a continuation of existing HMRC actions against the paradis fiscaux.
More to the point, most think that any positive effect on the exchequer will be more than countered by planned headcount reductions resulting in even greater amounts of uncollected domestic tax and subsequent write-offs on the scale recently reported.
Update: Talking of fraud ....
“We will put a stop to the fraudsters who infiltrate and steal money from our benefit system,” he said in a speech in London, “Criminal gangs and identity fraudsters who persistently steal money meant for the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society will be severely punished.”
We’ve previously mentioned Lord Freud’s involvement with investment bank UBS who recorded the largest losses of any European bank due to the extent of their dealings in the subprime mortgage market. Despite of the effect of the resultant worldwide recession upon the “poorest and most vulnerable people in our society”, you never hear ministers mention “organised fraud” in that particular context - despite evidence to the contrary when the bank agreed in February last year to pay US authorities $780 million and hand over customer details to settle charges.
The announcement of a benefits crackdown is portrayed by the ConDem government as a complementary measure to the anti-tax avoidance package unveiled by Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander who told the recent Lib Dem conference that "There are some people who seem to believe that not paying their fair share of tax is a lifestyle choice that is socially acceptable. It is not. Like the benefit cheat, their actions take resources from those who need them most."
This is of course the same Danny Alexander who exploited existing rules to avoid paying capital gains tax when he sold his taxpayer-funded second home at a profit. Since his speech however, fiscal analysts have pointed out that his initiative seems to be really no more than a continuation of existing HMRC actions against the paradis fiscaux.
More to the point, most think that any positive effect on the exchequer will be more than countered by planned headcount reductions resulting in even greater amounts of uncollected domestic tax and subsequent write-offs on the scale recently reported.
Update: Talking of fraud ....
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