To ask if you had heard the news re dwp are to be given powers of arrest?

[Graphista]

Popped up in my Facebook feed, shocked to see it being widely reported in regional newspapers yet I cannot find any mention of it on bbc news anywhere and I can't see it being widely reported in national media

I think this is absolutely appalling! They aren't police officers they don't have anything like the training or understanding of the law.

I find this deeply worrying that people with such a vested interest in the outcome of such actions will be allowed such hugely damaging powers - not just of arrest but to give search warrants etc too

What the Hell! We are no longer sleep walking into a "police state" we are now living in one!

I for one will be contacting my Mp tomorrow about this I am so disgusted and horrified by this.

This is literally criminalising the poorest and least able to defend themselves in our society

Yabvvvvu to get your news from Facebook

What? Link to proper info please.

I’d find it somewhere a lot more legitimate than Facebook before writing to an MP.

@orwellwasright is this source legit enough for you?
www.gov.uk/government/news/new-benefit-counter-fraud-plan-set-to-save-taxpayer-2-billion

following hope its not true!

Why am I being quoted? I didn't ask for links.

You do realise that, for example, HMRC currently have arrest powers?

You doubted OP so that link is not from FB but from the horses mouth

It's funny. Therese Coffey is literally bonkers. They plan to spend £600m to save £2bn but once you've factored in the inevitable overspend and incompetence then it will be more like £2bn to save £600m.

Lol. It will get the support of the right-wing frothers and the press though.

This is big, new and horrifying. Huge new spy and detention powers given to the state - including the right to look at your bank account without telling you. And arrest you with no criminal charge. And seize your assets with no criminal charge. Or involve the police.

Some things never change tho - typically, the Tories are hunting lone dole claimants on £70 a week not the property developers who steal £1000, 000s daily from the public sector.

Oh ok, it’s a plan, not law. Tories won’t get the bullying of individuals bits through - there’s 0 money in it and it’s an outrageous breach of human rights.

Another misdirection. Sigh.
Another strike against the poor. Sigh.

The government own link above says benefit fraud is at low levels but of course they will do this instead of looking at tax fraud, government tender fraud, Mp expenses fraud etc

It was first I saw it on Facebook but I have followed up since and seen it is being reported in various reputable regional papers plus on the gov website here

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-benefit-counter-fraud-plan-set-to-save-taxpayer-2-billion

including the right to look at your bank account without telling you.

And it would appear without having to actually specify who's bank accounts they seem to be getting rights to look at anyone and everyone's with very little in the way of cause

And I totally agree I am sick to death of the poor being targeted for supposed minimising of fraud reasons but not the huge corporations and dodgy wealthy individuals!

This is utterly unconscionable

This government is truly disgusting, they are corrupt and cruel.

Or they want the rights to look at pretty much anyones bank accounts and expenditure.

They may start with certain "types" of claimants but such laws if passed would open the gates to wide ranging oversight of our personal and private data.

For those thinking "I work I don't claim benefits" bear in mind that as far as this govt is concerned ANYONE who gets ANY kind of state help is a scrounger and must prove they are the deserving poor and not the undeserving poor.

This would include everyone who claims child benefit, childcare help etc

So if you think this won't affect you think again.

Very very few people and families are doing so well these days that they receive no help at all ever. Plus you never know what's around the corner.

@carefullycourageous the callousness is on a whole other scale to even previous Tory govts isn't it?

Have you seen HMRC staff versus DWP staff?

Have you compared the average benefit fraud amount to the average tax evasion figure?

The DWP make enough erroneous accusations as it is, (as well as overpaying much more than is defrauded), and these plans also allow them to trawl data sets to identify suspects, which is a dramatic new move. There had better be a plan to massively improve training.

This is a charter for Audrey to go full Minority Report.

I agree @Graphista - they will profile people, they will get sued for it, their travels will pick up overpayments that THEY have caused and then they will get all excited “plastic policeman” and arrest people for being victims of official error…Sooner or later somebody’s will die because benefits are being suspended in an excitable manner.

It has disaster written all over it.

All you have to do is hide money in your PayPal account apparently, so I've been told by a few.

So if you are claiming UC and making the odd quid on the side doing "whatever" you hide the proceeds in your PayPal account which the DWP can not access.

People have been doing this for years now.

But I digress, I don't think the DWP should have any more powers than they already have. They've ruined enough lives and sadly been the reason some people have sadly passed away.

What an insult to people who suffered employers knowingly committing furlough fraud and who will have gotten away with it, HMRC didn't exactly give me any confidence as 1 of a number in the workplace affected, they practically said here's to waiting many, many years for the employer to be brought to task.

In 2013 there was a company endorsed by the job centre that a bunch of us did a week's full-time work trial through with none other with a JCP+ knowing - did we get paid, hell no, we were sent to the job centre to sign on though if it was our time and quite encouraged clearly to keep benefits over a wage for the period! The company involved never parted with an actual penny. Ugh, what next.

www.cab.ie/

Works pretty well in Ireland

They are introducing civil penalties so that people who commit fraud are punished - but fraud is a crime, so they're going to find an easier way to go after people than to use the criminal system. They will need far less evidence under a civil system. I think they will be aiming to drive a lot of people out of the benefits system, though fear. People who qualify for benefits. Not to save money really, just because of ideology and hatred and disdain of people who are not like them.

www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/0630/1150548-cab-arrests/

All of these criminals claim the dole and live in pimped out council houses

The last arrest i seen, there was over 2k worth of after shave confiscated

There are already civil penalties though, or administrative penalties (adpen) as they call them, which is to pay it all back plus 30% on top. What are they going to institute instead? Stocks and rotten tomatoes?

Bearing in mind the people who do commit benefit fraud are usually desperate, coerced or just chaotic, and mostly very poor. What do we need other than the existing options of adpens and criminal proceedings? It sounds like an excuse to scare people with an arrest and intimidate them into accepting a harsh civil penalty, whether they’re guilty or not. People should at least get due process if arrested. Civil penalties are for civil proceedings.