to have reported my "friend" for benefit fraud

[buttercupp]

ok so cant go into too much detail for obvious reasons but i have a friend (not know for long but lives near me) and i have been debating for a while now whether to report her or not for living with her partner who is also claiming as living alone.

so today i have done it finally after being fed up of hearing what other electrical applicance they have bought with the stupid amount of money they have been given when my DH is out at work slogging his guts out just to make ends meet.

The reason i havent done it before is like i say she is supposed to be my friend,we have had nights out together and she has a baby so have felt a bit bad in that respect too but i knew i had to do the right thing.
would i be a hypocrite to continue to be her friend or should i avoid her from now on? i do like the girl just dont agree with what she was doing.and anyone know what will happen now i have reported her?

Interesting - and somewhat scary. What would society be like if everyone though that it is ok to break laws they don't agree with? Would keep lawyers busy I suppose (assuming that there would still be need for courts...)

What would it be like if none of us stood up for what we believe in? I think I'm invoking Godwin's law at this point :o

I think everyone should stand up for what they believe in. I just don't think that means that one should break the laws they don't agree with it. I doubt psychopaths and sociopaths agree with most laws and whereas benefit fraud and what a psychopath/sociopath might do can be very far from each other, where do you draw the line?

I don't set out to break laws but if you stand up for what you believe in, then sometimes that necessitates breaking laws. I think comparing protesting against laws that discriminate against people and GBH for the sake of it are quite different!

I did say that the examples are far from each other but surely the same rules have to apply to everyone. Protesting against laws is not illegal though so I don't see why you'd have to break laws to stand up for what you believe in. Anyway my previous comment about where do you draw the line was really aimed at Lucie who said 'it can be morally ok to break a law you don't agree with'.

Not always true. There is a law against protest in Parliament Square. So I can be arrested for that. And that's quite a good way of getting attention. Hence the breastfeeding picnic that was held there.

I thought you could protest in Parliament Square provided you had Metropolitan Police Commissioner's permission and that Section 132 of SOCPA was being repelled? Should you not get/seek the permission you of course could get arrested for that.

I think it is changing now but I'm more talking in principle (I have been arrested in the past) - I'm a single parent so can't really get banged up! :o

Yes I see your point

Mingg

I said it can be morally acceptable to break a law, not it is always morally acceptable to break a law. i.e. lawbreaking is not synonymous with immorality as some people would have it! So GBH say, is more than likely to be morally wrong, regardless of whether it is illegal or not.

Basically, I don't agree with the viewpoint that the law represents the moral frameork that we should all live by. As societies change so do the laws that govern them but amongst that presumably we still have our own views on what is/isn't acceptable.

And I wouldn't worry too much about what society would be like if everyone though that it is ok to break laws they don't agree with? People don't because of the consequences - and for most people, most of the time it's not worth it. But this is a practical point more than a point of morality imv.

:)

YABU you reported her because you were jealous, not because it was the right thing to do.

They will call her into their offices and ask her to explain what has been reported.

I will probably get flamed for this, but you are not much of a friend. You should have had the balls to speak to her and tell her if she didnt stop, you would report her, before reporting her.

Now you are asking should you continue to be her friend and pretend you know nothing about it. You were not her friend in the first place.

I really fucking hate people that fiddle any Benefit system, whether it be for money or housing, there was thread a while ago about how it was OK to fiddle the council to get yourself housed quicker.

I am someone who has been on benefits and lived off them fairly without cheating the system, my kids never suffered, some people are scum and everything is the same in this country, some thieving shits ruin it for us honest good people.

OP YANBU