Welfare policy of the United Kingdom

{{UKpolitics}}
The '''[[welfare]] policy of the United Kingdom''' has been a [[understatement|controversial]] issue in the [[politics]] of the [[United Kingdom]], ever since the first [[welfare state]] was set up.

==Creation of the welfare system and state==
The United Kingdom is a union state – i.e a state where a state's component parts have joined together due to a union of crowns, administrative standardisation occurs but the component parts of a nature still retain pre-union features (i.e. separate churches) and power is still centralised, but with limited [[devolution]]. Because of this, the structure of various services (including welfare) in different countries of the UK changes in certain respects; for example, the laws which apply in [[Scotland]] may not be equally applicable to [[Northern Ireland]] or {{wpl|England and Wales}}.<!-- Please leave Wikipedia link, "England and Wales" is not the same as "[[England]] and [[Wales]]". --> This also carries implications concerning governmental welfare programs.<ref name=spicker>{{cite web|last1=Spicker|first1=Paul|title=[http://www.spicker.uk/social-policy/uk.htm Social policy in the UK]|website=spicker.uk|accessdate=23 July 2015}}</ref>

The UK has been defined as having a liberal welfare state system.<ref name="Esping-Andersen 1990">{{cite book|author1=Gøsta Esping-Andersen|title=[https://books.google.com/books/about/?id=zW2ungEACAAJ The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism]|date=1998|publisher=Princeton University Press; Polity Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=9780745607962}}</ref><ref>Ferragina, Emanuele, and Martin Seeleib-Kaiser. [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/pap/2011/00000039/00000004/art00010 "Thematic Review: Welfare regime debate: past, present, futures?."] ''Policy & Politics'' 39.4 (2011): 583-611.</ref> A [[welfare state]] is defined by the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as: "[A] concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life."<ref name=britannica>{{cite web|author1=<!-- none specified -->|title=[http://www.britannica.com/topic/welfare-state Welfare state]|work=Encyclopædia Britannica|editor=The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> The ''Britannica'' also states that "fundamental feature" of any welfare state is that of social insurance, and the UK's National Insurance provides this.<ref name=britannica /> This has been provided since 1911 by the National Insurance Act, and was originally a protective system against illness and unemployment; this later expanded to provide retirement pensions and other benefits.<ref name=fifthreport>{{cite web|author=The Committee Office, House of Commons |title=[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmsocsec/56/5605.htm Select Committee on Social Security Fifth Report, the Contributory Principle: The relationship between tax and National Insurance]|publisher=Publications.parliament.uk}}</ref> Another feature of the welfare state is the public provision of basic education, health services (such as the [[National Health Service]]), and housing (in some cases at low cost or without charge).<ref name=britannica />

These were introduced to Britain in two stages: The Liberal reforms (1906–1914, considered the origins of the welfare state)<ref name=bbcliberalreforms>{{cite web |title= [http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/britain/liberalreformsrev1.shtml The Liberal reforms 1906-1914 (summary)] |work= GCSE Bitesize |publisher= BBC }}</ref> and the Beveridge Report of 1942, and subsequent post-[[World War II|war]] Labour government. 

=== Liberal reforms ===
A study of poverty in 1901 by Seebohm Rowntree (called ''Poverty, A Study of Town Life'') found that in a society where those who didn't work didn't eat, there were three times in people's lives when they were especially vulnerable: as a young child; when they were old; and when they were sick or unemployed.<ref name=bbcliberalreforms />  In order to counteract his, so-called Radical Liberals led by Lloyd George took their first steps towards Britain's first welfare state.<ref name=BBC_1>{{cite news|author1=Steve Schifferes|title=[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4696391.stm Britain's long road to the welfare state]|work=[[BBC]] News|date=26 July 2005}}</ref> The Liberal government of 1906-1914 implemented welfare policies concerning three main groups in society: the old, the young and working people.<ref name=bbcliberalreforms /> 

{{div col|3}}
;The young
*In 1906 local authorities were allowed to provide free school meals, although this was not on a compulsory basis.<ref>{{cite web|title=[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/school-dinners/ Why were school dinners brought in?]|website=National Archives}}</ref>
*The 1908 Children and Young Persons Act introduced a set of regulations that became known as the Children's Charter. This imposed severe punishments for neglecting or treating children cruelly. It was made illegal to sell cigarettes to children or send them out begging. Separate juvenile courts were set up, which sent children convicted of a crime to borstals (a forerunner to modern youth detention centres), instead of prison.<ref>{{cite web|title=[http://www.intriguing-history.com/childrens-act/ 1908 Children's Act was created to protect the poorest children in society from abuse]|publisher=Intriguing History|language=English|date=12 January 2012}}</ref>

;The old
*In 1908 pensions were introduced for the over 70s.<ref name=poverty>{{cite book|last=Gazeley|first=Ian|title=Poverty in Britain 1900&ndash;1945|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|date=17 July 2003|isbn=978-0333716199}}</ref>

;Working people
*In 1909 labour exchanges were set up to help unemployed people find work.<ref>{{cite web|title=[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g1_cs3.pdf Case Study: Working People]|website=National Archives|accessdate=30 August 2015}}</ref>
*The 1911 National Insurance Act was passed, ensuring free medical treatment, and sick pay of 10 shillings a week for 26 weeks.<ref name=bbcliberalreforms /> An estimated 13 million workers came to be compulsorily covered under this scheme.<ref name="Taylor1988">{{cite book|author=David Taylor|title=[https://books.google.com/books?id=UYDrnQEACAAJ Mastering Economic and Social History]|year=1988|publisher=Macmillan Education|isbn=978-0-333-36804-6}}</ref>
{{div col end}}
Overall, the Liberal reforms marked a transition point between old ''[[laissez-faire]]'' attitudes, and those of a more [[collectivist]] nature. The reforms made only limited inroads into the problem of poverty. The pensions paid were inadequate and the unemployment benefits were limited to only certain trades, and then provided only for the employee and not his family. [[Winston Churchill]] summed up the aim of the Liberals when he said: "If we see a drowning man we do not drag him to the shore. Instead, we provide help to allow him to swim ashore." In other words, the Liberals tried to provide some help for the poorer sections of society, in order that they could help themselves.<ref name="Impact of Liberal reforms">{{cite web|title=[http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/liberal/impact_lib/revision/1/ Impact of Liberal reforms]|website=[[Higher Bitesize]]|publisher=[[BBC]]|accessdate=30 August 2015}}</ref>

=== Beveridge report and Labour ===
[[File:National-Health-Service.jpg|thumb|right|Leaflet concerning the launch of the NHS in England and Wales.]]
The aftermath of the [[First World War]] boosted demands for social reform, and led to a permanent increase in the role of the state in British society. The end of the war also brought a slump, particularly in northern industrial towns, that deepened into the Great Depression by the 1930s.<ref name=BBC_1 />

During the war, the government became much more involved in people's lives via governmental organisation of the rationing of foodstuffs, clothing and fuel and extra milk and meals being given to expectant mothers and children.<ref name=BBC_1 /> The wartime coalition government also committed itself to full employment through Keynesian policies, free universal secondary education, and the introduction of family allowances.<ref name=spicker /> Many people welcomed this government intervention and wanted it to go further.<ref name=BBC_1 />

William Beveridge is associated most with the setting up of a blueprint for the post-war welfare state. His ''Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services'' was published in December 1942, and it created much public interest at the time.<ref name=Bitesize>{{cite web|title=[http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/labour/five/revision/1/ Beginnings of the welfare state]|website=Higher Bitesize|publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref> This became a major propaganda weapon, with both major parties committed to its introduction.<ref name=spicker /> In essence, Beveridge advocated that all people in work would pay a single weekly flat rate contribution into the state insurance fund.<ref name=Bitesize />

In 1945, contrary to expectations, Labour won a landslide victory at the General Election and with an overall majority in Parliament there was nothing to stop the new government from carrying out its manifesto programme. Labour's reforms were based on the Beveridge Report and it began tackling the five giants identified by Beveridge:<ref name=Bitesize />
{{div col|2}}
:1. '''Want (Poverty)''' 
::*National Insurance Act extended Liberal act to include all adults.
::*Industrial Injuries Act was passed, which made insurance against industrial injury compulsory for all employees.
::*1948: National Assistance Act passed, which provided benefits for those not covered by the National Insurance Act.
:2. '''Disease'''
::*1946: [[National Health Service]] formed (came into action in 1948)
:3. '''Squalor'''
::*200,000 houses per year built.
::*New Towns Act passed in 1946 laid the plans for 14 new towns in Britain.
:4. '''Ignorance'''
::* Education act (originally the Conservatives' idea) makes secondary education compulsory until the age of 15 years and provided meals, milk and medical services at every school.
:5. '''Idleness'''
::* Unemployment was reduced to 2.5%  in spite of post-war problems such as shortages of raw materials and massive war debts through nationalisation.<ref name=Bitesize />
{{div col end}}

==Dismantling of the welfare state==
=== Thatcherism ===
{{cquote| I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand ... "I am homeless, the Government must house me!", and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves.|||Margaret Thatcher, [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106689 ''Woman's Own'']}}
{{cquote|A man has to make his own way – has to look after himself – and his family too – and so long as he does that, he won't come to much harm. But the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you'd think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense. But take my word for it, you youngsters ... a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.|||Eric Birling, [https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/getattachment/Subjects/English/Series/Hodder-Graphics/Series-Boxes/Sample-pages/Sample-An-Inspector-Calls.pdf.aspx ''An Inspector Calls''] (J. B. Priestley)}}
Thatcher began to attend lunches regularly at the {{wpl|Institute of Economic Affairs|IEA}}, a think tank founded by the poultry magnate Antony Fisher, a disciple of [[Friedrich von Hayek]]; she had been visiting the IEA and reading its publications since the early 1960s.  There she was influenced by the ideas of Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon, and she became the face of the ideological movement opposing the welfare state. [[Keynesian economics]], they believed, was weakening Britain. The institute's pamphlets proposed less government, lower taxes, and more freedom for business and consumers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beckett |first=Andy |title=When the Lights Went Out; Britain in the Seventies |year=2010 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-22137-0 |chapter=11}}</ref>

Neoliberalism is famously associated with the economic policies introduced by [[Margaret Thatcher]] in the United Kingdom.<ref name = "For Business Ethics"/> [[Neoliberalism]] is a term which, since the 1980s, has been used by scholars in a wide variety of social sciences<ref>{{cite journal |title=Neoliberalism: From New Liberal Philosophy to Anti-Liberal Slogan |author=Taylor C. Boas, Jordan Gans-Morse |journal=Studies in Comparative International Development |date=June 2009 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=137–161 |quote="Neoliberalism has rapidly become an academic catchphrase. From only a handful of mentions in the 1980s, use of the term has exploded during the past two decades, appearing in nearly 1,000 academic articles annually between 2002 and 2005. Neoliberalism is now a predominant concept in scholarly writing on development and political economy, far outpacing related terms such as monetarism, neoconservatism, the Washington Consensus, and even market reform."}}</ref> and critics<ref>{{cite book|author=Noel Castree|title=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eYWcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA339 A Dictionary of Human Geography]|year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=339|quote='Neoliberalism' is very much a critics term: it is virtually never used by those whom the critics describe as neoliberals.}}</ref> primarily in reference to the resurgence of 19th century ideas associated with ''[[laissez-faire]]'' [[economic liberalism]]. Beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, its advocates supported policies such as [[privatization]], fiscal [[austerity]], [[deregulation]], [[free trade]], the reduction of the welfare state and reductions in government spending in order to enhance the role of the private sector in the economy.<ref name = "For Business Ethics">Campbell Jones, Martin Parker, Rene Ten Bos (2005). ''For Business Ethics.'' Routledge. ISBN 0415311357. p. 100:
*"Neoliberalism represents a set of ideas that caught on from the mid to late 1970s, and are famously associated with the economic policies introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan in the United States following their elections in 1979 and 1981.  The 'neo' part of neoliberalism indicates that there is something new about it, suggesting that it is an updated version of older ideas about 'liberal economics' which has long argued that markets should be free from intervention by the state. In its simplest version, it reads: markets good, government bad."</ref><ref>Gérard Duménil and Dominique Lévy (2004). ''[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674011588 Capital Resurgent: Roots of the Neoliberal Revolution].'' Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674011589 Retrieved 3 November 2014.</ref><ref>Thomas I. Palley (May 5, 2004). [http://fpif.org/from_keynesianism_to_neoliberalism_shifting_paradigms_in_economics/ From Keynesianism to Neoliberalism: Shifting Paradigms in Economics]. ''Foreign Policy in Focus.'' Retrieved November 11, 2014.</ref><ref>Jonathan Arac in Peter A. Hall and Michèle Lamont in ''Social Resilience in the Neoliberal Era'' (2013) pp xvi-xvii
*The term is generally used by those who oppose it. People do not call themselves neoliberal; instead, they tag their enemies with the term.</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003</ref><ref>[http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story067/en/ "Neo-Liberal Ideas"]. ''[[World Health Organization]]''.</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1-last= Haymes|editor1-first=Stephen  |editor2-last= Vidal de Haymes|editor2-first= Maria|editor3-last= Miller|editor3-first= Reuben|title= [http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415673440 The Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States]|location=London |publisher= Routledge|publication-date=2015|isbn= 0415673445|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qnHfBQAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false 7]|quote= Neoliberalism represents a reassertion of the liberal political economic beliefs of the 19th century in the contemporary era.}}</ref> The transition of consensus towards neoliberal policies and the acceptance of neoliberal economic theories in the 1970s are seen by some academics as the root of {{wpl|financialisation}}, with the [[banking crisis|financial crisis]] of 2007–08 one of the ultimate results.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lavoie |first=Marc |title=Financialization, neo-liberalism, and securitization |journal=Journal of Post Keynesian Economics |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=215–233 |date=Winter 2012–2013 |subscription=yes}}</ref><ref name="StegerRoy">Manfred B. Steger and Ravi K. Roy, ''[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/neoliberalism-a-very-short-introduction-9780199560516?cc=us&lang=en&# Neoliberalism: A Very Short Introduction]'', (Oxford University Press, 2010), ISBN 019956051X, p. 123</ref><ref>Gérard Duménil and Dominique Lévy, ''[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674049888 The Crisis of Neoliberalism],'' (Harvard University Press, 2013), ISBN 0674072243</ref><ref>David M Kotz, ''[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674725652 The Rise and Fall of Neoliberal Capitalism],'' (Harvard University Press, 2015), ISBN 0674725654</ref>

=== Current government policy ===
;UK Government welfare expenditure 2011–12:
{{div col|3}}
* State pension (46.32%)
* Housing Benefit (10.55%)
* Disability Living Allowance (7.87%)
* Pension Credit (5.06%)
* Income Support (4.31%)
* Rent rebates (3.43%)
* Attendance allowance (3.31%)
* Jobseeker's Allowance (3.06%)
* Incapacity Benefit (3.06%)
* Council Tax Benefit (3%)
* Other (10.03%)<ref name=guardian-interactive11-12>{{cite news|title=[http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/dec/04/public-spending-uk-2011-12-interactive Public spending by UK government department 2011-12: an interactive guide]|accessdate=2 April 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=4 December 2012|author=Rogers, Simon|author2=Blight, Garry}}</ref>
{{div col end}}

[[File:Scottish Parliament. Protest March 30, 2013 - 11.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Protesters opposing the bedroom tax outside the Scottish Parliament.]]
Comparing Coalition austerity measures with the Opposition's, the respected ''Financial Times'' commentator Martin Wolf commented that the "big shift from Labour ... is the cuts in welfare benefits."<ref name="FT_28102010">{{cite news |author=Martin Wolf |date=28 October 2011 |title=[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/845371b6-e2c3-11df-8a58-00144feabdc0.html Britain has gone climbing without a rope]|newspaper=The Financial Times}}</ref> The {{wpl|United Kingdom government austerity programme|government's austerity programme}}, which involves reduction in government policy, has been linked to a rise in food banks. A study published in the ''British Medical Journal'' in 2015 found that each 1 percentage point increase in the rate of Jobseeker's Allowance (dole) claimants sanctioned was associated with a 0.09 percentage point rise in food bank use.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Loopstra|first1=Rachel|title=[http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/april/foodbanks.pdf Austerity, sanctions, and the rise of food banks in the UK]|journal=BMJ|date=2015|pages=2|accessdate=25 June 2015}}</ref> The austerity programme has faced opposition from disability rights groups for disproportionately affecting disabled people. The {{wpl|Under-occupancy penalty|"bedroom tax"}} is an austerity measure that has attracted particular criticism, with activists arguing that two thirds of council houses affected by the policy are occupied with a person with a disability.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ryan|first1=Frances|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jul/16/bedroom-tax-burden-disabled-people 'Bedroom tax' puts added burden on disabled people]|accessdate=25 June 2015|date=16 July 2013}}</ref>

Arguably the most alarming aspect of the current government's welfare reform policy is its redefinition of "poverty"; poverty is no longer classified by a family's income, but as to whether a family is in work or not.<ref name=Gaurdian1 /> Considering that two-thirds of people who found work were accepting wages that are below the living wage (according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation),<ref>{{cite news|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/24/record-numbers-working-families-poverty-joseph-rowntree-foundation Record numbers of working families in poverty due to low-paid jobs]|accessdate=29 July 2015|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=24 November 2014}}</ref> this has been criticised by anti-poverty campaigners as an unrealistic view of poverty in Britain today.<ref name=Gaurdian1 />

The Department for Work and Pensions has been criticised recently for using false case studies of benefits claimants in one of its leaflets following a Freedom of Information request by ''Welfare Weekly'', claiming that they were for "illustrative purposes only"<ref>{{cite news|author1=Kevin Rawlinson|author2=Frances Perraudin|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/18/dwp-admits-making-up-positive-quotes-from-benefits-claimants-for-leaflet DWP admits inventing quotes from fake 'benefits claimants' for sanctions leaflet]|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=18 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Kevin Rawlinson|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/21/fake-benefits-claimant-zac-quoted-in-other-dwp-documents Fake benefits claimant 'Zac' quoted in other DWP documents]|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=21 August 2015}}</ref> and that it was "quite wrong" to pass these off as genuine quotes.<ref>{{cite news|author1=The Minister for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan-Smith, admits a leaflet about benefits containing fake quotes from fictitious claimants was 'wrong' Andrew Sparrow|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/24/fake-quotes-benefits-leaflet-wrong-iain-duncan-smith Use of fake quotes in benefits leaflet 'quite wrong', Iain Duncan Smith admits]|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=24 August 2015}}</ref>

===== Welfare Reform and Work Bill =====
One of these reforms was the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, supported by Iain Duncan Smith (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) and the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]. Many people have criticised the bill, with some even going as far as to defining it as a "Pandora's box for Britain's poorest families".<ref name=Gaurdian1>{{cite news|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jul/19/the-welfare-reform-and-work-bill-will-make-poor-children-poorer The welfare reform and work bill will make poor children poorer]|accessdate=29 July 2015|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=19 July 2015|author=Javed Khan}}</ref> The cuts to tax credits have been criticised for unfairly disadvantaging the working poor, and a clause in the bill allows the benefits cap of £20,000 (£23,000 in London) to be reduced further, without any consultation with Parliament, thus making those from larger families even worse off.<ref name=Gaurdian1 /> It also called for £12bn to be made in cuts.<ref>David Maddox, ''The Scotsman''. [http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/labour-deeply-divided-as-welfare-reform-bill-passes-1-3836133 "Labour deeply divided as welfare reform bill passes"]. (01:07, Tuesday 21 July 2015).</ref>

Harriet Harman (deputy leader of the [[Labour Party]]) ordered her Labour MPs to abstain from the vote for the bill as opposed to voting against it (a move which US-based magazine ''[[Nation (magazine)|The Nation]]'' said "underline[d] Labour's moral and intellectual bankruptcy"<ref>D. D. Guttenplan [http://www.thenation.com/article/why-a-left-wing-socialist-is-poised-to-become-the-leader-of-britains-labour-party/ "Why a Left-Wing Socialist Is Poised to Become the Leader of Britain's Labour Party",] ''[[The Nation]]'' (August 26, 2015).</ref>). However, one potential Labour leader associated with the hard left, [[Jeremy Corbyn]], voted against the bill, alongside 48 Labour MPs who defied the orders of the deputy leader.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Andrew Sparrow|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2015/jul/20/reaction-to-camerons-speech-on-tackling-extremism-politics-live Welfare bill: 48 Labour MPs defy party whip - as it happened]|accessdate=23 July 2015|work=The Guardian|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> Other parties in opposition to the bill were the [[Scottish National Party]] (who said that the Bill was "...an attack on civil society, it's an attack on our poorest and hard working families, and it's a regressive Bill that takes us back in time with cuts that will hit women and children the hardest"),<ref>{{cite web|author1=Scottish National Party|title=[http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2015/jul/snp-vote-against-welfare-reform-bill SNP Vote against Welfare Reform Bill]|website=snp.org|accessdate=23 July 2015|date=20 July 2015}}</ref> the [[Liberal Democrats]], the Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), [[Plaid Cymru]] and the Green Party of England and Wales.<ref>{{cite news|title=[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33604287 Welfare cuts backed amid Labour revolt]|accessdate=23 July 2015|work=BBC News|date=21 July 2015}}</ref>

=== Shifting the rhetoric ===
In its defence, the government's official website, GOV.UK, claims under the heading ''Welfare'' that: "The benefits system needs to be reformed to be fair, affordable and able to reduce poverty, worklessness and welfare dependency. This will make sure people are helped to move into work while the most vulnerable get the support they need."<ref>{{cite web|title=[https://www.gov.uk/government/topics/welfare Welfare]|website=GOV.UK}}</ref>

Critics argue that this is the government's excuse to execute large-scale cuts in services, and that it perpetuates the stereotype that people on Incapacity Benefit or Disability Living Allowance are unwilling to work, faking their condition, or otherwise being "scroungers".<ref>{{cite web |title=[http://thebrokenofbritain.blogspot.com/p/our-mission.html The Broken Of Britain: Our Mission] |publisher=Thebrokenofbritain.blogspot.com |date=2011-01-15 |accessdate=2013-02-11}}</ref> and that the term "welfare depedency" is tantamount to [[blaming the victim]].<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Brendon O'Connor|title=[https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-79196587/the-intellectual-origins-of-welfare-dependency The Intellectual Origins of 'Welfare Dependency']|journal=Australian Journal of Social Issues}}</ref> The rhetoric surrounding issues such as so-called benefit scroungers often ignores the facts: false benefits claimants are often a drop in the ocean in comparison to tax dodgers. As commentator Owen Jones writes in his book ''The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It'':
{{cquote|The real villains ... have received anything like the attention they deserve. The behaviour of those on the bottom of Britain's profoundly unequal order is subject to an endless barrage of criticism and condemnation: it seems no accident that while ''Benefits Street'' graced Britain's television screens, shows called ''Tax Dodgers Street'' or ''Bankers Street'' were conspicuously absent.|||Owen Jones<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Owen|title=[https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-establishment/owen-jones/9780141974996 The Establishment: And How They Get Away with it]|date=21 April 2015|publisher=Melville House|isbn=9780141974996|page=xi}}</ref>}}
A slim majority of the British public agree with the view that we should be targeting tax evaders more than benefits claimants (52%,<ref name=Guardian2>{{cite news|author=Tom Clark|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/16/treat-tax-dodgers-harshly-benefit-cheats-guardian-icm-poll Treat tax dodgers more harshly than benefit cheats, says Guardian/ICM poll]|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=16 February 2015}}</ref> although undoubtedly the number would be higher if it were not for sensationalist headlines in the tabloid press), and Iain Duncan Smith himself has had to admit that the Department for Work and Pensions has over-emphasised statistics on benefit fraud,<ref name=NSEWWUG /> whereas when asked outright by the chair of the Public Accounts committee if Apple, Google, Facebook, eBay and Starbucks were morally wrong for avoiding nearly £900m of tax between them, David Cameron gave a weak response, saying "we do need to make sure we are encouraging these businesses to invest in our country".<ref name=NSEWWUG>[http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2012/11/shift-rhetoric-benefit-scroungers-cheating-corporations "Shift the rhetoric from benefit scroungers to cheating corporations"]. ''New Statesman'' (12 November 2012).</ref>
 
However, very many people suspect that "politicians and big business are so close" that tax dodging would "be allowed to continue, irrespective of who is in government". That view is embraced by 67%, as against just 27% who reject it.<ref name=Guardian2 /> This shows that emphasis on those on the lower rungs of our society, whether it be so-called benefits scroungers or immigrants, is at the very least disingenuous, at the most cynical and manipulative.

Let's look at the evidence: The National Audit Office noted in 2015 that approximately '''£1.6bn''' of fraudulent benefits were claimed, in comparison to '''£4.1bn''' in tax evasion, '''£3.1bn''' in tax avoidance and '''£5.4bn''' due to criminal activity (''e.g.'' smuggling).<ref name=TheWeek>{{cite web|title=[http://www.theweek.co.uk/62461/which-costs-more-benefit-fraud-or-tax-avoidance Which costs more: benefit fraud or tax avoidance?]|website=The Week|accessdate=30 August 2015|quote=The NAO did not break down how much of the £4.6bn was fraud, saying that both DWP and HMRC have differing definitions that make this difficult to assess. It said £3.3bn of the total was overpaid by DWP, representing around 1.9 per cent of its £164bn spend, while £1.3bn was overpaid by HMRC, around 4.4 per cent of its £29bn tax credit bill for the year.  We can extrapolate from previous figures quoted by the NAO for the 2012/2013 financial year, which found around £1.2bn of deliberate fraud on the part of benefit claimants, representing around 34 per cent of the overpayment total that year. If these proportions remained unchanged, benefit fraud would have risen to around £1.6bn. The remaining £3bn would be accounted for by mistakes made by claimants when applying, or errors by department officials.}}</ref> 

These figures all show that the government are focusing on the wrong groups – the £3.1bn figure in tax avoidance, for example, is still ''completely legal''. Even if we were to gain all £1.6bn from fraudulent benefits claimants, this would only be the tip of the iceberg, and that people who criticise benefits scroungers without batting an eye to tax avoidance often have something to hide.

And more recently, in a show of complete and utter lack of self-awareness, arguments from the Tory party that is primarily responsible for welfare cuts says that Tories should be [[Hypocrisy|paid more]] to prevent fraud.<ref>https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mps-pay-peter-dottomley-sleaze-scandal-b1952105.html</ref> The sad reality of it being that as someone in power with a majority of seats on these issues, that their double standards are more likely to see fruition than not.

==References==
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