The now Labour-led Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published its annual report. So predictably, it was prime opportunity for the right-wing hacks at the Times to punch down on benefit claimants. Top of its benefit claimant-bashing agenda – the usual – DWP benefit fraud, naturally.
Only this time, there was a twist! A particular revelation must have the right-wing gutter publication spitting feathers after its wall-to-wall benefit fraud-busting hit pieces. Because as it turned out: the public now give less of a shit about people committing benefit fraud. Cue, a vitriol-fueled crusade chock-full of fact manipulation.
Times’ latest DWP benefit fraud bullshit
On Monday 22 July, the Times published an article which led with the headline:
‘Britons’ tolerance of fraud could cost benefits system £2bn a year’
The Canary will spare you the effort of reading it. Spoiler: it’s not worth the subscription fee. The article’s key take-away? People are about to commit MORE benefit fraud. To be precise, according to the Times, it’s looking set to soar 5% year on year.
Its basis? A DWP annual report which details supposed economic fraudulence. Specifically, these included exhibit a: an increase in fraud against businesses. Then – and this is a real clincher if ever there were – an uptick in… shoplifting. But if none of that was damning enough, the DWP had one last piece of incontrovertible evidence. That is, that attitudes to fraud have “softened” since 2016.
You read that right. The public care less about benefit fraud than they did eight years ago. Ergo, expect more of it.
If you’re not following how any of this proves that there’ll be a rise in benefit fraud, that’s because it’s palpable nonsense. Specifically, the report itself says that:
The overall conclusion of this analysis is that there is an increasing trend in the underlying propensity towards fraudulent behaviour, which can be expected to place an upwards pressure on fraud in the welfare system. DWP has estimated through the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expenditure forecasts that this long-term behavioural trend creates a headwind that would cause fraud levels to grow at around 5% per year without action to reduce it.
Then, in reality, it based this claim solely on a flawed evaluation promulgating an “inexact science” (the DWP’s own words, not mine). In short, the DWP assessment looked at the so-called “propensity” to commit fraud overall. Moreover, this pertained to entirely disparate forms of crime, unrelated to benefit fraud. So it couldn’t actually show trends for DWP benefit fraud specifically: meaning of course, that the 5% figure is effectively bogus.
‘Dark money’ think tank has a take on it
Not that this mattered to the Times. Two plus two equals five, or indeed *insert whatever alarming-sounding figure here*. Because the point is, the facts aren’t important. So long as the right-wing lapdog can drum up legitimacy for the new Labour government’s “tough on crime” publicity machismo, any figure will do.
Of course, it’s not exactly unexpected from a lynchpin publication of the Murdoch media empire. That’s because the shit rag pumps out this bile hell-bent on demonising poor, chronically ill, and disabled people accessing the welfare system for a past-time.
And for good measure, the DWP mouthpiece threw in a comment from the right-wing think tank with the best-worst misnomer – the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). This is the brainchild of ostensible ex-DWP grim reaper and all-round Universal Credit-machinating cunt Iain Duncan-Smith. Calling it an “independent centre-right think tank”, the Times introduced its policy director Edward Davies saying:
The pandemic seemed to somewhere break the social contract and pour petrol on harmful behaviours —we’ve seen that coming through in economic inactivity, school exclusions and now fraud.
First, let’s clear this up. The CSJ is as far from “independent” as you can get. In actual fact, it’s a “dark money” think tank – in other words, it doesn’t disclose its funders. Open Democracy has rated it among the worst for transparency, which isn’t surprising given how tight-lipped it is about its financial benefactors.
Plus, I guess anything passes as “centre” these days, since both major political parties have lurched so far to the right. Yet, the CSJ is regularly the haunt of a ghoulish line-up of right-wing politicians launching their cruel new policies. A recent example of this was Rishi Sunak and his “sicknote culture” strongman stunt, front and centre at a CSJ event. The CSJ’s CEO was a fan by the way, in case you were wondering.
Fictitious fact-fiddling over DWP benefit fraud
Largely, Davies’s odious spiel boiled down to suggesting that people are committing more benefit fraud because of some totally mysterious and unknown reason relating to the pandemic. This chimes perfectly with DWP boss Liz Kendall’s persistent post-election “economic inactivity” and back to work guff. Both aim squarely at chronically ill and disabled people claiming benefits. It’s almost like a global mass disabling and chronic illness triggering event never happened. Except of course, it did.
What’s more, people couldn’t possibly be claiming benefits more now, after Tory pandemic corruption, Brexit, and rampant recession-teetering inflation sent the cost of living sky-rocketing. Or you know, because parasitic employers diddle workers out of job security and a livable wage, while reaping killer dividends. Nope, for the DWP and the CSJ, more benefit fraud must be afoot.
However, here’s the thing. By now, the Canary must sound like a broken record saying this (take it up with the corporate media), but DWP benefit fraud is virtually non-existent. We’ve consistently shown how everything from Universal Credit fraud, to supposed Personal Independence Payment (PIP) fraud is either fictitious fiddling of the facts, or quite literally zilch.
British public have ‘low integrity’? Now that’s rich
Labour left MP and Mother of the House Diane Abbott called the Times article out for what it is:
This is a disgraceful article, based on biased comments from the DWP. The level of benefit fraud is tiny compared to the overall bill. And it is tiny compared to level of tax that is owed but unpaid.
This is just another attack on the poor.https://t.co/b4clftFu0x— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) July 23, 2024
As did consultant clinical psychologist and chronic illness ally Dr Jay Watts:
TW benefits hate
I am livid to see the DWP has released this report using a random and low quality set of predominantly unrelated research to frame claimants as more fraudulent as we all are.
Reminder- 0.02% of the most targeted benefit at the moment, PIP- are fraudulent. pic.twitter.com/vKJELjRhQl
— Dr Jay Watts (@Shrink_at_Large) July 23, 2024
Moreover, if timing is everything, it’s telling that the Times put out this scapegoat-mongering piece the same day the DWP closed an inaccessible and discriminatory consultation on dangerous PIP reforms. The new Labour government has hugely distressed chronically ill and disabled people for its silence on this – which includes the Tories’ callous ‘voucher’ scheme vanity project proposals.
Oh, and did I mention? If you’re one of those people who couldn’t give a toss about non-existent benefit fraud, while the DWP pays out an unlivable pittance, denies sick and disabled people payments, and kills tens of thousands of people, breaking the UNCRPD international disabled rights law in the process, then the DWP and the Times think you have “low integrity”. Go figure.
At the end of the day, the Times article is nothing more than a sly pretext-setting exercise for Kendall’s fraud-busting fantasies. When she dons a bullet-proof vest and puffs out her chest Pursglove style in a police ride along raid-turned-DWP-publicity promo, don’t be surprised. It’s media trash like this Times piece that paved the way for it.
Feature image via the Canary
