Willie; I don't think I've ever advocated giving advantages to those who abuse the benefits system, nor do I deny they exist; but it's really a question of mathematics, and where the policy effort should be directed to achieve best results. Lox quoted the Monbiot article above; the benefit fraud bill is estimated at between £1bn and £3bn, depending on who you listen to; £3bn is the Daily Mail end of things. The tax avoidance/evasion bill is around £120bn every year. If you were a pragmatic government, and you were just interested in the economics of the thing, where would you concentrate your efforts in order to produce the best returns? Instead, the vast bulk of legislation is being aimed at areas where the returns are marginal at best. This government is not interested in securing the economic future; it is simply using the current situation to engage in a massive piece of social engineering intended to make the poor accountable for the ills of the country and to ensure a permanent and unbridgeable divide between the haves and the have nots. Banging on about the workshy doesn't get the economic job done; let's hear a lot more about the tax-shy!