Forget the benefit cheats; shop a banker

Nov 16 2008 Elaine C. Smith

IT amazes me how so many people get their knickers in a twist about what benefits their neighbours might be getting while choosing to ignore folk who are up to much, much worse.

All the rumour and gossip about foreigners putting us out of jobs, to drug addicts' children getting nursery places, to the neighbour whose boyfriend lives with them but is claiming single person's benefit.

It is as if all that jealousy and anger is there to stop us all thinking about the really bad guys in the world.

The telly advert about benefit cheats plays on all of that stuff... telling people to turn in their neighbours. Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating that folk cheat. I get as annoyed as anyone with people who use forged disabled permits or who fraudulently claim disability benefits.

But I just think our obsession with it is out of proportion compared to what real villains get up to. I only wish the government had bothered to put out an advert asking us to keep an eye on bankers and maybe we would not be in the mess we are in now.

It would have saved us all a lot more money than we will ever get back from benefit cheats.