So at a time of the worst recession for a generation, the BBC make another programme about benefit cheats?
With Sickness benefit fraud at just 0.5%, the BBC make another programme about benefit cheats?
With Disability benefit fraud at just 0.3% the BBC make another programme about benefit cheats?
With government overpayments actually costing the country more than sickness/disability benefit fraud, the BBC make another programme about benefit cheats?
At a time of rising disability hate crime, stigmatisation and abuse, the BBC make another programme about benefit cheats?
At a time of the biggest erosion of welfare provision in our lifetimes, the BBC make another programme about benefit cheats?
At a time of corruption of MPs, corruption of our media, corruption of our police force, the BBC make another programme about benefit cheats?
Do you make any attempt to point these things out in your programme? Indeed, do you point out that the cases you use are extreme and very, very rare? Do you mention that before the recession Britain had one of the highest work participation rates in the OECD? Do you explain that until the credit crunch UK benefit levels were amongst the lowest in Western Europe? Do you balance your programme by mentioning that our number of claims are on a par with other countries, not higher? Do you explain to your viewers that benefits in the UK are some of the toughest to get in the world? That we have the toughest sanctions in place? Do you point out that benefit claims have not been rising for a long time and that in fact between 1997 to 2007 they fell consistently?
No. I'm sure you don't
This is a very dangerous game the BBC are playing. I'm sure the coalition are delighted, but perhaps you have some duty to the 5 million sick and disabled people who watch your programmes and pay your licence fee? Or those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own? Or those single parents with very young children.
Shame on you.
Sent to panorama.reply@bbc.co.uk
Re : Britain on the Fiddle, 8pm, BBC1 tonight.
Great stuff. I'm sending a complaint in now.
ReplyDeleteFRIGHTENED
ReplyDeleteI am frightened - I have been disabled all my life , worked hard, brought up a family, many operations. Worked for 35 years - had to give up and was medically discharged. But this is the first time that I am frightened of being disabled. I cannot beleive the terrible things the papers and media are saying about disabled people - I am beginning to worry about going out - am I being watched, never been paranoid in my life - but now I am frightened. Me and probabaly millions like me now worried constantly. How will we survie financially, my sick pay and small pension is all I have to keep my head above water - income support a no no, just over the limit to get help. But never mind we are 'all in it together' !!!
Great stuff again Sue, what is it with aunty beeb at the moment, are we not persecuted enough already by the DWP, Cameron, IDS, GRAYLING ETC.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC should obviously have made a film about the corruption of the BBC. They seem to be acting as recruting sergeants for the 'don't pay your license' brigade.
ReplyDeleteBB
Anyone sending in a complaint might also wish to complain about the quoted figure of £22 billion per year lost to benefit fraud when the government's own figure for fraud AND error in the benefit and tax credit system per year, quoted in the October 2010 DWP document "Tacking Fraud and Error in the Benefit and Tax Credit System", is £5.2 billion.
ReplyDeleteAnnie
Annie - I believe they have conflated ALL fraud against any government dept with benefit fraud, but I too would love to see how they justify that figure.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC has lost all credibility since the Coalition came in. The bias in their reporting on the issues affecting the sick and disabled is blatant.Plenty of scrounger and faker stories but nothing on those who are being terrorised by deliberately falsified medical assessments - its not as if the terrible stories of real suffering and fear are hard to find. Nothing on the recent Hardest Hit protest by the disabled. I had to watch Russia Today to find out what was happening.
ReplyDeleteIts not confined to Welfare reforms the bias is evident elsewhere. Hours devoted to the release of the Israeli soldier but only one line mentioning 500 palestinians were also being released that day - one who had been in prison since 1978. I had to watch Channel 4 before I even knew this exchange had happened.
And as for Emily Maitlis on the St.Paul's protest being "like pickpocketing a pensioner" I had to laugh.
I think disabled people should stop paying their licence fee. we are not represented accurately but paying them to vilify us to the public.
I am middle aged and have never had cause to doubt the BBC before. Nor have I ever been afraid of my own government before. I am now.
After the John Humhpries farcical "State of Welfare" I was so shocked and uspet I was up all night.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can watch tonight as I am so beaten down but feel I have to>
For those who have a complaint here is a quick link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/
There were people at the DPAC conference suggesting it was time to Occupy the Beeb, I think disabled people are increasingly convinced the BBC are part of the problem, not the solution. And based on the evidence, how can you disagree?
ReplyDeleteJan - Don't watch. I'm not going to. Seen one, seen 'em all. I hadn't meant to complain, but my fingers took on a life of their own when I read the bbc article online.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue - for all you do - thank you for your courage and persistence in the face of hate.
ReplyDeleteI sent a complaint about Humphrys the other day - and will now send one to Panorama - the fourth I have lodged about these issues. What is going on at the BBC? Why are they pushing the Daily Heil agenda?
You'd almost think that Mark Thompson had held talks with the government about how he should promote their policies to ensure the vulnerable get blamed ...
Ranting again.... Part 1
ReplyDeleteThe programme is little fish to distract people from what is really going on.
We are on the brink of war because of the illegal acts of bankers and corporations, who want everyone other than the rich, to work for £1.68 an hour (someone on Job Seekers working 40 hours per week), so that we can rival China's output. If you are not fit enough or you're too old then tough luck.
What the Daily Mail readers and the watchers of the so called documentary airing this evening don't understand, is that once they've finished with us, they will start with people who earn minimum wage upward to average wage and middle incomes. Pay will be cut across the board, and utilities will rise exponentially; many home owners will become homeless.
In many states in the US, professionals have had to accept 40% pay cuts and many have been made homeless and forced to live in tent cities or on the street; how nice to come home to that after a hard day's slog. Those professional who have managed to keep hold of their homes, whether rented or mortgaged, are forced to queue for hours each week for food boxes. In some states, street after street, whole towns, have had their houses and apartments boarded up due to peoples' inability to afford living costs. Medicare insurance for the sick and poor has been cut, consequently, life saving drugs and urgent treatments are being withheld. Recently, many states have decided on a 'zero tolerance' with regard to the tent cities that have sprung up around the deserted towns. They have not only started evicting people from their tents, but they confiscate ALL of their belongings: how very desperate these people must now be.
There was another recent case in the US recently that highlighted the totally uncaring attitude of the authorities in relation to homelessness. In a few states it is illegal to be homeless, therefore you are not allowed to sleep rough, or even sit down during the day, anywhere; concomitantly, the states provide no homeless provision. The police force are mobilised to a larger extent just to deal with homelessness and especially as homelessness has risen at an alarming rate. A pregnant woman became homeless in one of these states. She tried to sit down in a museum during the day, but the police were called and she was told to 'keep moving'. She tried to sit down on a park bench, but the police were called and she was told to 'keep moving'. She 'kept moving' right up until her 6th month until she collapsed and her child was born dead.
In Greece the situation is as bad if not worse. Some have had to accept 60% pay cuts and the government - forced by the IMF and investors - have cut pensions and benefits by 50% and slapped a tax on electricity (which is set at the same rate whether you are rich or poor). They have run out of basic medicines and they admit that some needing diabetic drugs will die soon. Now the IMF are demanding further cuts, which the people cannot take and will lead to abject poverty for anyone who hasn't got private means...
Ranting again...Part 2
ReplyDeleteAnd it will happen here. I am chronically disabled and due to welfare reform with regard to social housing, I will become homeless in 2 years time; as will my carers: work definitely doesn't 'pay' then does it? I and many others have nowhere else to go; there are no hostel places as they are already full. We will have to sleep rough, and I won't last a week in the winter. Similar to the US, no one will care; members of the local 'Health and Well Being' boards the government has set up will just say that it's a 'very sad case', and after 'meetings about meetings', they will shrug their shoulders and say that they are helpless to act.
If the NHS bill is allowed to go through, practices will be allowed to 'cherry pick' patients, even if they do not want to because of the cuts in funding; those with chronic disabilities will eventually find themselves without a doctor, hence without vital medicines. The cap on private hospital admissions is to be lifted, which means that private patients will take priority; tough luck if you need a pacemaker and you can't afford the 10 grand to pay for it.
Cuts to legal aid will ensure that no benefit claimant or patient has redress. Although measures are being taken to provide some sort of system, it may come too late for those about to lose their home or life.
Frightened doesn't begin to describe how many of us at the bottom feel. But, I refuse to give them the pleasure. The poor will not stand for it, neither the better off. There will be massive social unrest, and this government, and the banks and corporations who tell them what to do, will firmly deserve it.
Clarebelz
Clarebelz again (not ranting this time, it's exhausted my fingers).
ReplyDeleteThe beeb won't do anything other than put a supporting statement out online if there are complaints. It might be better then to make a formal complaint to 'Offcom' due to the figures being blatantly misleading and because the argument is biased. Other documentaries have been discredited due to this type of thing.
I will watch it, although I don't want to, but I'm going to take extensive notes and send in a complaint this weekend. Hopefully, if enough people complain to Offcom, the beeb will get a public reprimand; at least that's something.
It's just finding a way to get enough people to complain.
Thanks Clarebelz - your rants were enjoyable articulate. Ofcom is a good one to include.
ReplyDeleteI am going to phone, write a (real letter) and send more emails.
I just went back to the BBC news site and guess what - headline - "Ministers 'consider alternatives' to 5.2% benefits rise".
Timing of all these programmes and the government's benefit reduction 'alternatives' is purely coincidental I suppose...
FinnR
* enjoyably
ReplyDeleteFinnR
And to make everyone’s day we are on the brink of a massive Middle Eastern war again…
ReplyDeleteClarebelz again.
ReplyDeleteTotally exhausted and in pain so this is last one.
Checked Ofcom's Broadcasting guidance here:
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/guidance/programme-guidance/bguidance/
Seems the beeb will have broken quite a few of them, so I'm going to use each point in the complaint.
Have a nice, and hopefully not too painful weekend...
Clarebelz
Anyone in the mood for writing emails could also contact the disabled paralympian Baronness Tanni Grey Thompson.
ReplyDeleteShe has asked disabled people to send her their "views, opinions and cases" on the Welfare Reform Bill. She says she needs material she can use to put the case in the Welfare Bill reform debates. She is quoted as saying the Bill has made her the most depressed she has ever been as a disabled person.
Her email needs javascript to prevent spam bots:
greythompson@parliament.uk
i have severe mental health issues.i take anti pyschotic medication.one of the side effects is cognitive impairment so excuse my grammar.if i lose my benefits and get found fit for work it will kill me.i wont be able to cope.the bbc should come and interview someone like me and see how poorly i am instead of all this properganda.
ReplyDeleteJan said...
ReplyDeleteThe BBC has lost all credibility since the Coalition came in. The bias in their reporting on the issues affecting the sick and disabled is blatant.Plenty of scrounger and faker stories but nothing on those who are being terrorised by deliberately falsified medical assessments - its not as if the terrible stories of real suffering and fear are hard to find. Nothing on the recent Hardest Hit protest by the disabled. I had to watch Russia Today to find out what was happening.
But of course labour brought out numerous green papers on welfare reforms, each paper had a BBC program about benefit scroungers.
The BBC is and always will be a tool of the government in office and of course it would not sunrise me if you get labour now coming out again and saying they backed the Tories plans.
We have to learn we caused the banking crises before the crises even started.....heir to Blair Cameron, heir to Cameron Miliband.
Full details about the BBC Trust, it's policies on BBC editorial content and how to complain can be found here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/about/complaints_appeals/index.shtml
anonymous 14.10 ...scary ...i fear about what may happen to us all.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC programme tonight is about benefit cheats those with many identities also those that drive Bentley's and sail in yacht's is that you ?
ReplyDeleteIf sick and disabled go out you are being watched and i know that more then anyone after 30 years there is no need to be careful just be yourself if your genuine just make sure you stick to the plan or route that you have told the DWP about for example if you told them you go out once a week just make sure you stick to once a week. Also make sure your trips are never more then two hours maximum and avoid coffee shops being caught their on camera will not go down well at all
The DWP teams that have watched me for the past 30 years have not had much to complain with me as i am a creature that has always done the same thing when i have gone out I'm brief and to the point never out for more then one hour. When they put cameras up outside your home you wont notice them so don't even bother looking for them as you wont find them
How has it effected you over the past 30 years in being watched ? It's tough it wasn't so bad for the first 10 years but over the past 20 years it has led me to have voices in the head and can cause me confusion if i am out on my own with a double vision with someone out to kill me so i have to be on my guard that my time out is brief and that i am not confronted in a threatening way as the outcome could be unpredictable
The DWP that follow me around i can sense them and spot them and yes they are very professional but i can still spot them not all of them but i have had to live with this and 30 years is a long time i could go down in the Guinness book records of being the most watched (lol)
have the DWP robbed you of your life ? yes they have i cant get that life back
Are you bitter ? sometimes but thats the risk you take when your ill there is nothing you can do when i was first ill i had a Chance to leave the UK and didn't take it and have had to pay the price of a lost life life is like that for some and it's tough and for me it will probably get tougher
"Mercedes Benz" by JANIS JOPLIN
ReplyDeleteOh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
Everybody!
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends,
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? ;)
Vulnerable adults: 96,000 alleged abuse cases reported
ReplyDeleteFigures on such cases have been released for the first time as councils have a new duty to report them.
from the BBC!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15574395
Anonymous 19.04 - Did you ever see this? http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com/2011/06/mluds-wont-you-help-me-with-welfare.html
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteVulnerable adults: 96,000 alleged abuse cases reported
Figures on such cases have been released for the first time as councils have a new duty to report them.
from the BBC!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15574395
I can well believe that the DWP are just as bad if your unlucky like me
AND tonight IDS the quiet man is on Question Time....BIG fat hairy surprise there eh.Ifs the C of E is the Tory party at prayer then the BBC is its propaganda arm.
ReplyDeleteLets have a programme on the MPs still fiddling thier expenses to hike up thier 65 grand a year salary.Lets have a look at fraud and misspending in the bbc.Lets have a look at the mps and Lords who have vested interests in the private health companies lobbying so hard to ...reform the NHS...and this list is endless only the general public do not care to know about all that.
Pretty soon all those lucky enough to have both a job and thier health may well wish they had paid more attention to the real fiddling bastards because its all ahouse of cards waiting to tumble....
I think more and more that they just support whichever party is in power.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they did it for Labour and I just liked it then. Didn't question things for years.,
@ Sue
ReplyDeletehttp://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com/2011/06/mluds-wont-you-help-me-with-welfare.html
Yes I did see it very good! Better than the original!
One thing for sure is the way we are being abused by the system, which includes the BBC, DWP, Atos, and many other things...it has made so many more of us open our eyes to the fact things are not what they are presented to us...abusers manipulate our fear but when we know what they are doing it helps us to stand up, or lie in our sick beds metaphorically standing up to the oppression. They lose their power...like the Spanish Inquisition their main weapon is fear, brutality adds to that fear but when enough stand up change has a chance to happen before it gets as bad as it has done before in history that some remember still and can remind us.
ReplyDeleteWe are frightened but let's not give them our power because of our fear...I nearly crumbled again, this last week especially has been incredibly challenging, I wasn't sure if I would survive.
I'm watching the program and it's not as bad as you think was it, OK some of it, but the chap claiming benefit illegal, and my pet hate people who use blue badges when they are fully fit and healthy. OK some of it was crap but fraud is fraud.....yes I know.
ReplyDeleteLook lets not kid our selves these people are making it hard for the rest of us.
I'll be looking at the programme later. Not watching it live.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't otherwise care about anything other than lack of factual rigour, but this is the BBC and simply drawing attention to an issue the tabloids adequately manage almost every week is not what should be expected from a public service broadcaster. They should be adding something new or informing their audience. Having glanced at parts, I see anything but.
The programme is showing secret film of people on DLA doing things like - gasp - gardening in an allotment and playing golf.
ReplyDeleteNo mention of the fact that many disabilities fluctuate. Some days I can be very active, including physically. The next day I might not be able to get out of bed and my brain is foggy. Strangers only see me on the days I am ABLE to go out. Do the BBC mention fluctuating conditions? Do they mention that things like golf or gardening (in my case Pilates and acting clasdses)are actually theurapeutic? Of course not.
Adrianne
Why are people surprised that the Beeb is leaning to the right?
ReplyDeleteBecause it’s leaning so far over its makes the Leaning Tower of Pisa look normal.
ReplyDeleteNo investigation is carried out over less then six months, and the longest can be two years.
ReplyDeleteIf your having a good week then it will be picked up, and I'm sorry to say a few of these people were obviously either in remittance or dam well better.
And with an ex Tory Minister in charge of the BEEB, it will get worse for the disabled, Hitler had Goebels the Tories have Chris Patten, leading the propaganda arm of the Coalition, when we we have a expose on the Bankers and big business salting away their millions out of sight in tax havens, don't hold your breath.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC are playing right into the coalition's hands by again bashing people on benefits. If only we could all be as priviledged as David Cameron. Shame on the BBC who are supposed to be impartial!
ReplyDelete@Robert
ReplyDeleteAnd as bad as they are the cost loss of all of them put together hardly cover one banker’s bonus or not?
I know why this program was made and so do many others, the attack on ATOS by people annoyed the PCS Union and the government, you will not here any more words about it being wrong again, each time we get near to winning this happens.
ReplyDeleteWatching the Blue badge cheats really annoys me the time I have to go home because I cannot park, and I dam well know when I see people walking in Tesco or Asda they could have walked a few more feet and allowed me the extra space to get my wheelchair out.
They have won again because people have cheated .
Have Panorama replied? I doubt they ever will. Time for some direct action me thinks.
ReplyDeleteThats just the sort of divisive thinking that the govt wants. I know there are abuses of the blue badge scheme but unless you know the medical history of the user and you are medically qualified then you dont know for sure that it is being abused by that particular individual.What have a we all been commenting about people saying...well YOU dont look ill......lets not do it too.
ReplyDeleteVery well put Sue! What is happening to have the BBC fuelling crude Daily Fail fact lite cheap pieces masquerading as prime time documentaries (would be interesting to know how much public money, BBC, DWP and local council) was spent in the production of this programme. Very sour taste and a suspicion that, like the Taxpayers Alliance used the Fail as its primary information source. Shoddy television produced for those running the undeserving poor agenda
ReplyDeleteThe Taxpayers Alliance is nothing of the sort it is but another arm of the govt propaganda machine as is the BBC.
ReplyDeleteI strongly urge all those disgusted by the BBC's "scrounger season" to complain.
ReplyDeleteAt a time when Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, says we are in the worst economic shape since the 30s, possibly the worst ever, all due to incompetent politicians and bankers, the BBC target the sick and disabled and the unemployed. Shameful.
And benefit fraud is 5 billion, not 22 billion.
The correct address for complaints is here. PLEASE COMPLAIN
https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms
Fraud and ERROR-five billion,of course much more is left unclaimed due to fear,ignorance or pride,as much is underpaid as overpaid etc-mere facts that mean little to the propaganda spewing out at the moment.
ReplyDeleteDisability hate crime rose by 20% last year.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/disability-hate-crimes-up-a-fifth-2351317.html
Panorama = incitement to more hatred.
panorama.reply@bbc.co.uk
Actually benefit fraud is £1.2 billion.
ReplyDeleteError by the DWP accounts for £3.3 billion. The figures are often added together by government to mislead the media.
(Where Panorama got their £22 billion figure from remains a mystery.)
Benefits that go unclaimed because people do not know they are eligible, like DLA or Pension Credit, at least £66 billion.
Tax evasion £15.2 billion to £120 billion.
Atos is paid £500 million per year. Add in £50 million per year in tribunal costs for appeals. And the unknown millions for the Work providers.
It would seem trying to weed out the 0.8% of fraudulent IB claims and the 0.5% of fraud in DLA is costing the taxpayermore than it is saving - but this is about ideology, not catching cheats. It is about the backdoor privatisation of the Welfare State.
Anyone noticed all the Income Protection ads recently?
I've started watching it and the presenter cites 'the latest research' although if he said the sky is blue I might still be cautious. Sue suggests this could be for all fraud and error in every government department put together, in which case this is Francis Maude's turf, but I have heard there is a source and I'll chase it up tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWhilst looking into Maude's activities, which are pretty much just a gimmick to justify why he is in the Cabinet, I have seen this figure before months ago and the vast majority of fraud and error is from- procurement. The government is losing almost all of this money due to bad management in the public sector, and fraud by private sector suppliers.
There is no reason why this figure should be cited, but the actual benefit fraud figure not. Instead it is described as 'significant' when it clearly isn't and FullFact.org have already had a go at The Mirror over their use of it and say they are looking at Panorama.
I've sent in a complaint myself. Full text follows:
ReplyDelete"The "Britain on the fiddle" Panorama episode was truly shambolic. There were numerous factual inconsistencies, leading statements and substantial implications in this show that will have given the viewer the impression that benefit fraud is at a higher level than it actually is.
The reporter stated that one person was claiming DLA as he claimed he couldn't work. It then showed him tending some flowers.
For a start, DLA is not an out-of-work benefit. Many people claim it and work, perfectly legitimately. Next, tending a garden isn't actually something a disabled person on DLA is always unable to do. Many disabled people have "good" and "bad" days, which means they are able to do more on "good" days than on "bad".
The reporter repeatedly used the "£22bn" figure, yet failed to source it - it is at odds with the figures used by the government.
The reporter stated, more than once, that someone who was receiving Incapacity Benefit owned a boat and a house in France. Given that Incapacity Benefit is NOT a means-tested benefit, these facts were irrelevant. It is not fraudulent to own a boat, a house, or even both if you are receiving Incapacity Benefit.
The reporter visually judged a member of the public, who had parked in a Disabled Parking Bay, as not being disabled. It just so happened that on this instance, he was correct - but how many times had he got it wrong? Did he understand that by visually judging this member of the public, he undermined those who have disabilities that cannot be seen and simply reinforced the idea that it is acceptable to challenge someone "because they don't look disabled"? This stereotyped disabled people as being "obviously disabled", which is far-from the truth.
The only time it was mentioned that the majority of claimants are not fraudsters was in the last 30seconds, after an hour of portraying fraud to be at much higher levels than official statistics suggest - an hour that portrayed fraudsters as being representative of benefits claimants.
Honestly, I thought I was watching Daily Mail TV - the fact-checking and presentation was absolutely awful. The balance was non-existent. The producer and the reporter should be thoroughly ashamed, as I truly believe this could contribute to the increasing level of disability-hate-crime."
Actually these DWP disability yachts aren’t too bad at all the upper deck heated swimming pool could be a little bigger but then there’d be no room for the spar and sun lounge. The Bentley’s just your average leather upholstery and wood grained dash affair but I suppose it’s better than nothing. I can’t see what all the fuss is about.
ReplyDeleteHow successful has the diligent fraud undercover teams and BBC been with the TAX avoiders, bankers, multi nationals, politicians, media, illegal immigrants, dodgy lawyers and judges and police and drug barons?
ReplyDeleteProbably got the 22 billion figure from
ReplyDeletehttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/nfa/annual-fraud-indicator/afi-2011-public-sector-fraud?view=Binaryom-
Sorry having dificulty -Home office,publications,agencies and public bodies National Fraud Authority-third chart down-Public Sector Fraud Breakdown
ReplyDeleteIf it was it is taking the you know what,given that procurement "loss"was less than benefits,tax credit and housing tenancy fraud all put together.
ReplyDeleteSent to BBC - Full Complaint: There seems, to me, to be far too much coverage in all the media about the tiny minority of benefits claimants who claim fraudulently. This is becoming a source of enormous distress to the majority of claimants who are actually genuine, in particular those who are disabled and therefore already extremely vulnerable. There is a lot of real fear amongst those who should be receiving support rather than stigma. I would suggest that, by adopting the hysterical attitudes of our right-wing politicians and the cheap tabloid press and broadcasting this kind of material, the BBC can no longer justify its claim to be unbiased, particularly given its scant coverage of the Hardest Hit marches that recently took place in cities across the country. Surely this campaign was deserving of more attention?
ReplyDeleteHere is a BBC report quoting government figures for benefit fraud:
ReplyDelete"They show that around a third of welfare benefit over-payments, amounting to £1bn, are due to recipients committing fraud, with the remaining £2.2bn being due to genuine error on the part of officials or recipients."
John McManus 26 October 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11628643
So benefit fraud is '1 billion'. The rest is accountable by considering 'genuine error on the part of officials or recipients. Further, the 5 billion figure given by George Osborne was is shown to include overpayments by DWP staff.
What on earth were Panorama doing quoting 22 billion?
It would appear that this is what the public WANT to hear - so Panorama gives it to them - a case of watching a programme that you believe will reinforce what you already believe.
ReplyDeleteViewing figures show this programme achieved Panorama's best viewing figures all year at 4.48 million, (18.6% of the TV audience)despite being up against the soaps on ITV.
So that's nearly 1:12 of the population brainwashed again.
When will the British public begin to question this frenzied media campaign. Are people really THAT stupid? And then they get to vote?
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a349163/big-bang-theory-e4-return-watched-by-almost-1m.html
very true jan2 the public love it and thrive on it that shows how sick the public are
ReplyDeleteNow it could be said that the program was watched by the sick and disabled but i would think that would have been only by a small minority who were just keen to know on what's going on but by and large and i dident watch it as i have seen it all before from the bbc
The bbc in future need to look in to making program's in where abuse is being handed out that makes for a far more topical issue has it's a ongoing thing in care homes etc
[QUOTE]Anonymous has left a new comment on the post "Complaint to BBC":
ReplyDeleteHow successful has the diligent fraud undercover teams and BBC been with the TAX avoiders, bankers, multi nationals, politicians, media, illegal immigrants, dodgy lawyers and judges and police and drug barons?[/QUOTE]
That runs many risks of the reporter being killed so is best left alone
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/nfa/annual-fraud-indicator/
ReplyDeletethird chart down?
Excellent rant from clarebelz.
ReplyDeleteWhat is going on is much bigger than our country and its political whores. We do not live in a democracy it is a sham and a charade. Our so-called leaders are front men and take orders from their bosses.
Their bosses have decided on the liquidation of the welfare state which is why Tory Labour and Lib Dem are united in their mission to eliminate the welfare state.
"It was always inevitable, on a finite planet, that there would be a limit to economic growth. Industrialization has enabled us to rush headlong toward that limit over the past two centuries. Production has become ever more efficient, markets have become ever more global, and finally we have reached the point where the paradigm of perpetual growth can no longer be maintained.
Capitalism was handy in an era of rapid growth. For an era of non-growth, a different game is being prepared.
Thus, capitalism has not been allowed to die a natural death. First it was put on a life-support system, as mentioned above, with globalization, privatization, derivative markets, etc. Then it was injected with a euthanasia death-drug, in the form of toxic derivatives. And when the planned collapse occurred, rather than industrial capitalism being bailed out, the elite bankers were bailed out. It’s not that the banks were too big to fail, rather the bankers were too powerful to fail. They made governments an offer they couldn’t refuse.
With the bailouts, Western governments delivered their nations in hock to the bankers. The governments are now in perpetual debt bondage to the bankers. Rather than the banks going into receivership, governments are now in receivership.
As we might expect, the highest priority for budgets is servicing the debt to the banks. Just as most of the third world is in debt slavery to the IMF, so the whole West is now in debt slavery to its own central banks. Greece is the harbinger of what is to happen everywhere.
part 2
ReplyDeleteIn an era of non-growth, the focus of the game will be on the consumption side of the economy. The game will be aimed at controlling the necessities of life: access to food and energy.
With food prices linked to energy prices, and agriculture land being converted from food production to fuel production, the result can only be a massive increase in third-world starvation. Depopulation has long been a stated goal in elite circles, and the Rockefeller dynasty has frequently been involved in eugenics projects of various kinds. Genocide through imposed poverty is already a model being pursued successfully in Africa, and biofuels are systematically expanding that program.
With the collapse, the bailouts, and the total failure to pursue any kind of effective recovery program, the signals are very clear: the system will be allowed to collapse totally, thus clearing the ground for a pre-architected ‘solution’.
By ‘total collapse’ I mean things like major disruptions in essentials, such as food, water, electricity, or fuel. Maintaining order in a time of collapse, when for example there might not be enough food to go around, will be a nasty business. People may get quite unruly if their families are starving. Harsh measures may be required.
Total collapse, plus the Shock Doctrine, is an ideal formula for re-engineering society. Consider how Japan and Germany were socially and politically transformed by the postwar reconstruction process. Those were exercises in social engineering, as were the preceding transformations under Mussolini and Hitler. Although the outcomes were quite different, in each case a total collapse / defeat was the preamble to reconstruction.
"Today Americans would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful. This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence.
It is then that all peoples of the world will plead with world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well being granted to them by their world government." – Henry Kissinger speaking at Evian, France, May 21, 1992
Culturally, the post-capitalist era will be a bit like the medieval era, with aristocrats and lords on top, and the rest peasants and serfs.
Those outside the bureaucratic hierarchies are the serfs, with subsistence entitlements. Within the bureaucracies, entitlements are related to rank in the hierarchy. Those who operate in the central global institutions are lords of empire, with unlimited access to credits.
The flow of entitlements comes downward, micromanaged from the top. It’s a dole economy, at all levels, for people and governments alike — the global regimentation of consumption."
To read more -
http://rkmdocs.blogspot.com/2010/02/prognosis-2012.html#end_growth
http://rkmdocs.blogspot.com/2010/07/toc-2012.html
I agree with R32
ReplyDeleteI think we are way beyond the level of ineffectual lobbing, demonstrations, twittering and Occupying as we know them. We may even be at the beginning of total collapse and perhaps a dawn of a new civilisation something akin to the fall of the Roman Empire. Whatever happens it’s going to be very different than today. I know this it cannot go on as it is for much longer.
It seems to me when politicians start saying ,in effect, that a strong europe is the best hope of lasting peace in europe,then we have much to worry about and at best there will be further cuts and the bankers get still richer or the chance of the unthinkable happens which is the break up of the EU and military conflict and the bankers get richer.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine all scenarios will have been considered at the G20.Greece fails and the domino effect starts.
All things are possible apart from Cameron admitting ,along with the rest, that he is in fact a bankers lackey,politicians AND certain LORDS stop bloody lying and filling thier own boots at our expense and Atos get the boot and th sick/disabled get treated fairly.
As for the BBC well they sail whichever way the wind is blowing and i get more news from RT and max Kiesers show on RT is worth watching...
@ Adrian
ReplyDeleteI had a look at this http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/nfa/annual-fraud-indicator/
As can be seen benefit fraud is insignificant it hardly registers compared to the others on the chart. If you say think about just one individual billionaire e.g.Bill Gates it’s just the small change in his pocket.
I just complained!!
ReplyDeleteI said:
Dear Panorama,
I wish to register my unhappiness with this weeks Panorama "Britain on the Fiddle". I am concerned that your programme makes sweeping generalisations about people with disabilities and their capabilities. Especially the segment where you showed undercover videos of people with disabilities doing activites. The film showed the clips of the claiments then said to camera words of the effect that it was extrodinary that these people were doing these activities and claiming benefits for a disability. There was no explanation as to what kind of disability they had therefore we as an audience were lead to the assumption that these people were not as disabled as they claimed without any proof from the presenter. I felt this also made a massive generalisation as to what a "disabled person" is fit or unfit to do by your presenter, who is not a Doctor. Therefore instead of Panorama exposing wrong doing it was actually guilty of insighting bigotry and ignorance against people with disablities.
In especially poor taste was the elderly man tending an allotment. I would say that it was very unfair to say that this was not something a "disabled person" should do. It was taken completely out of context. How do we as an audience not know that this was the best he had felt for a month and wanted to get out into the open air? How do we know that he didnt suffer for a week after this? This kind of journalism alienates the disabled and sick. Being disabled or sick is a constant struggle and it is extremely difficult for people who have a long term illness day to day and often the curse of the illness is its unpredictability. Some illnesses are not visable, such as Crohns disease or ME.
I would like to suggest that Panorama focusses on exposing fraud in a clearer and fairer way in future.
Best Wishes
well done Lizzy i know someone who looks well and is always doing things in fact is very fit but mentally is extremely ill so needs a lot of care had he been on the programme all you would have seen is a fit man going about his business you would not have seen the dark side in that he could kill you at any point
ReplyDeleteThere are others types of people i know who should go out with their oxygen/walking stick/ etc but don't as they don't like being stared at and this applies to many people who are ill or disabled
Apologies for my earlier post using last year's figures on fraud. This year's shows benefit fraud has actually gone down.
ReplyDeleteBest pie chart on fraud for 2011: Easy to see benefit fraud is miniscule:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/nfa/annual-fraud-indicator/afi-2011-public-sector-fraud?view=Binary
Shows that Benefit fraud is £1 billion.
Tax credit fraud is £460 million - figures which are sometimes lumped together as "benefit fraud".
Meanwhile Tax Fraud is £15 billion.
I certainly don't know of any websites for taxpayers who are terrified of what is going to happen to them. Or a private company that is calling in all taxpayers for interrogation.
Re: aboe post,
ReplyDeleteSorry the direct link doesn't appear to work.
The pie chart can be found by clicking on here then third link down.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/nfa/annual-fraud-indicator/
To be fair, they did do one about police corruption last week. But other than that this rebuttal is spot on.
ReplyDeleteTUC Poverty Conference 2011 – facts on disability fraud
ReplyDeleteFor disability benefits, the figures are even lower: fraud accounted for a smaller proportion of spending on Disability Living Allowance and Incapacity Benefit than Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Carer’s Allowance or Council Tax Benefit. Fraud accounted for just 0.5 per cent of DLA spending and 0.3 per cent of IB spending.
The King Blues - Does Anybody Care About Us
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AofmaraxSHg
this could be our anthem..
we should write to this band, they are our allies.
warning, quite loud catchy guitars...
The BBC should look into this.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the data provided by the Swiss bank, India has more black money than rest of the world combined. India topping the list with almost $1500 Billion black money in Swiss banks, followed by Russia $470 Billion, UK $390 Billion, Ukraine $100 Billion and China with $96 Billion.
It’s embarrassing for any country to top the list of black money holders. The money which belongs to the nation and its citizens is stashed in the illegal personal accounts of corrupt politicians, IRS, IPS officers and industrialists.
http://www.iretireearly.com/1-4-trillion-indias-black-money-stashed-in-swiss-banks.html
Compare THIS to benefit fraud.
ReplyDeleteThere are around $2 quadrillion worth of financial instruments (like securities) that cannot be redeemed due to the lack of cash in the system — so-called toxic waste.
Read more here…
http://gregpytel.blogspot.com/2009/04/largest-heist-in-history.html
As one of her works was mentioned earlier I've inserted this link, from a Naomi Wolff article entitled "How to occupy the moral and political High Ground" relating to modern protest http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/06/naomi-wolf-occupy-movement
ReplyDeletesorry Naomi Wolf, as in yesterday's Observer.
ReplyDeleteThe Poor and Vulnerable in Society Deserve Human
ReplyDeleteCompassion and Support from Government and
Society
The bbc are racists against ENGLISH people
ReplyDelete[QUOTE]Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThe BBC are racists against ENGLISH people[/QUOTE]
It's a grim reality of life in that in most countries the sick and disabled throughout history have been persecuted and killed or for those that are deemed mental put in an asylum out of harms way
And David Cameron plans to keep in that way along with the BBC and newspapers. If you vote in that type of government then you get what you vote for if you voted for someone like myself you'd have a very different type of government it's all about making the right choices at the end of the day every five years at the election