Cash for snitching on benefit cheats

matbe

Welcome to communist Britain we can all snoop for the governments ineptitude.

Next week children win prizes for reporting their parents to the stasi for crimes against the state.

Long live the motherland comrades.

wageslave

Desertfox wrote: »

I am going to start deleting my personal posts. No offense intended but the forums public and I prefer to keep more personal stuff to PM's. Could you please delete any quoted posts ws. Thanks.

Done for you

lemonjelly

wageslave wrote: »

I don't see how you can stop benefit fraud and I am not entirely sure that we should.

Those at the bottom end will always be on the rob. Needs must.

When I left my husband, I was beyond skint. I stole coffee from work, toilet rolls, anything really that was any use.

By any criteria, I should have been sacked. If I had been caught I would have been.

I was desperate. I am not excusing what I did, merely explaining it. It is easy to sit here now, from a position of relative comfort, and have a go at what I did.

I'd have stole the sugar from your tea if it would have helped feed my daughter. Faced with the same circumstances, I would do exactly the same thing.

I know, Jeeesus I know, that not every benefit cheat is desperate but at the end of the day who am I to judge?

It is ultimately me who pays for them and if I can live with the odd greedy sod as opposed to a child somewhere going hungry then isn't that my choice?

It is probably my background, I have no moral problems with theft. I do, however, have problems with taking more than you need.

But when push comes to shove, I am not that honest myself

Interesting anecdote wageslave. Firstly, thanks for sharing. second, thanks for your honesty.

Playing devils advocate a little, perhaps the long term savings on benefit fraud (& fraud prevention - if the likelihood of being caught is too high perhaps less will do it) may mean that genuine claimants can be entitled to higher rates, to avoid being in the situation you found yourself?

Cleaver

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'd grass up a cheat. Every time.

I used to think this.

The guy who used to live in the flat below us was one of the nicest blokes you'd care to meet. Seemed quite scary and rough when you first met him, but you soon realised he had a heart of gold. Said hello to everyone, always happy to help people out, a real sound guy.

He worked as a labourer on a building site and also had work 'on the roads' doing labouring. He lost his job about 12 months ago and ended up on benefits. I often used to chat with him if I bumped in to him and he used to tell me how much he hated being on benefits, especially since he'd had a job for 14 years straight since leaving school.

I saw him one morning and asked how things were. He told me that he'd been struggling to pay his rent and a friend got him a job, one day a week doing labouring. They couldn't offer him any more work and gave him £50 for the day. He was left no real choice: if he told the benefits agency then he'd lose his benefits, but £50 a week was not enough to sustain him, especially as it was ad hoc and could stop any time. So he took the work and didn't tell the benefits agency.

He got a knock at the door because someone shopped him in. The benefits agency didn't press charges against him, probably because they sympathised with his situation. But I felt really sorry for him, as he's trying to get a job, would like to take one day a week to try and get him back in to work but our inflexible system means he has to lie.

Look, if someone is hiding a load of income from the benefits agency, or has a full time job and is collecting job seekers then throw the book at them. But I don't think this situation is always as black and white as it sounds.

So I now wouldn't grass up a cheat every time.