Sort of agree with Ninah about shopping - makes me uncomfortable.
OK, this man is a waste of space, but the whole idea of shopping implies there are lots of people abusing the system, makes no allowance for people who are desperate and singles out people on benefits as somehow worse than middle-class people who play the system. I don't buy the line that because I pay taxes I'm somehow morally superior to people who don't.
There are plenty of white-collar people fiddling their expenses and tax returns or fare-dodging - and wealthy people who employ experts to avoid paying their fare share in taxes. Why are there no telephone helplines to report them? Why are there no advertising campaigns warning them of dire penalties (apart from fare dodgers)? And how many middle-class people have paid tradesmen in cash - basically conniving at tax avoidance? I'm no saint, I've paid cash too, but it makes me feel that I'm in no position to shop anyone, IYSWIM.
I know people on benefits, and it upsets me when they are portrayed as scroungers. And I know what a struggle it is, especially if you are single and don't have kids - a lot of Gordon Brown's benefit reforms are aimed at families. That's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but people without kids get far less help. You can just about survive on benefits day to day - but how do you cope when you have a big expense, like your heating breaks down? AFAIK you get a loan which is deducted from your benefits - but benefits are already what our society defines as the minimum we need to live on! I can't really blame anyone who is struggling to survive and fiddles the system a bit out of desperation.
Of course I don't like people who exploit the system because they are nasty, or lazy, but I'm not convinced they are the greatest evil facing society.