Fewer than 1/3 of the 2.7 million people claiming incapacity benefit are legit

[DimPrawn]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7223687.stm

Fewer than a third of the 2.7 million or so people claiming incapacity benefit are legitimate claimants, a government welfare adviser has said.

David Freud, an investment banker hired by Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell, said up to 185,000 claimants work illegally while on the benefit.

He told the Daily Telegraph it was "ludicrous" that medical checks were carried out by a claimant's own GP.

The system was "a recipe for getting people on to IB", he said.


Mr Freud, whose report on welfare last year was highly influential on the reforms set out by Mr Purnell on Monday, has recommended that private firms be paid "bounties" to get claimants off incapacity benefit and into jobs.

'Conflict of interest'

He said there was a "classic conflict of interest" embodied in the system of GPs carrying out claimants' medical checks, saying: "They're frightened of legal action."

He said that, compared with unemployment benefit, incapacity claimants received more money and did not get "hassled".

"The system we have at the moment sends 2.64 million people into a form of economic house arrest and encourages them to stay at home and watch daytime TV. We're doing nothing for these people," he told the paper.


As long as these people vote Labour, why should the government give a tulip?

[Diver]

"The system we have at the moment sends 2.64 million people into a form of economic house arrest and encourages them to stay at home and watch daytime TV. We're doing nothing for these people," he told the paper.

Bliss

I wonder why people do it

[threaded]

As long as these people vote Labour, why should the government give a tulip?

Maybe the government are believing their own spin and think they don't need these votes now.

[PAH]

With the low turnouts due to apathy for all the parties, Labour know they can win just by keeping the dregs of our society happy.

Now the more astute may be wondering whether I'm talking about the work dodgers or the inmates*. Probably both.


*Why else would they have a system where they get a reduced sentence for good behaviour rather than extra sentence for being naughty!? Not to mention the tulip about letting them out early (yet still banging up the council tax evaders) because the jails are 'overfull'. Why don't they replace the bunk beds with a 3-up system if there really is a problem? Too little space to move? Welcome to the real world, you don't see the chickens getting released early.

Ironic that with all the do-gooders screwing this country up, the criminals get treated better than the elderly, many who risked their lives for us on at least one occasion. In fact maybe that's the answer. Get to 70 and purposely get sent to jail for a cushier life. Let's hope I remember that when I'm 70 and riddled with alzheimers.

[NoddY]

Rich people don't work - why should the poor?

The real suckers are the one's in the middle paying for it - supporting the big people above them and the little people under them. SUCKERS!

[AtW]

Rich people don't work - why should the poor?

Rich people can afford it - they pay with their own money for not working, this increases employment in two ways - first there is supply of money to justify a job, and secondly rich people don't get a job themselves. Parasites who don't work (but can physically) but claim benefits are bad since even though they don't take a job, they are wasting tax revenues in an unproductive fashion.

Brown is in deep tulip right now, he can't really raise taxes, but he needs them desperately - he hit businesses with CGT tulip, but that's not enough, so he will have to turn again people he supported before - not the first time he does that so personally I am not suprised.

[BoredBloke]

"Brown is in deep tulip right now, he can't really raise taxes"

You have to be joking. Have you not been following the news

Binge drinking - under age drinking.........raise taxes on alcohol

Polluting cars...........raise extra taxes based on the gunk leaving the pipe at the back

Both of these have been touted recently and have found favour with a certain percentage of the population. Neither will have the desired effect, but both will give more money to play with.

[PAH]

And Brownstuff still says Britain can compete with China (and other emerging superpowers of exploitation and pseudo-slavery) by being a world leader in quality and expertise, whilst at the same time taxing industry and it's workers to death, and bribing the 'enemy' to take our jobs and offer our services back to us.

It feels like that time towards the end of a contract when you know the management are trying to get you to train up your cheaper permie replacements, but don't have the balls to come clean about it.