The news that only 199 out of 1002 police arrests (and that's a low amount of arrests given how widespread the problem is), for begging, were actually found to be homeless, is hardly a shock .... this fact has been exposed a number of times, with even waged workers taking up begging at the weekend and evening, as a tax free earner.
Now begging has been with us since one man started working, and another decided not to. Of course by the Middle Ages it was almost a full blown industry, and beggars had to be inventive to extract money ...
But now the existing begging laws are a pale shadow of their former self, and should be not only enforced more often, but strengthened. Begging is basically welfare benefits fraud. It is a quick and effective method of getting to keep your welfare benefits, and housing benefit for the rent, and with a bit of luck, pocket a couple of hundred pounds a week (or more) undeclared income on top. In other words, Fraud.
So this begs the question. Why bother working?
Begging after all is a stress free way of life, with no upper limits on the income to be made, and its almost impossible for welfare investigators to detect, unless the police arrest and charge them, and then bother to pass on the names and addresses of offenders to the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP), and or the Inland Revenue. The only way is for Magistrates courts to fine, imprison, or impose ASBO's, and always call in welfare investigators to really deter this crime.
It's not a victimless crime ... they are robbing you and I of money we have worked for, while they do nothing but can often quickly afford a reasonable lifestyle for the rest of their lives, simply by sitting on streets, whining 'spare any change mate?'
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| Modern UK Beggars Are Seldom Poor Or Homeless .... |
Now begging has been with us since one man started working, and another decided not to. Of course by the Middle Ages it was almost a full blown industry, and beggars had to be inventive to extract money ...
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| Medieval Beggars Had To Put On A Show Of Disability ... |
But now the existing begging laws are a pale shadow of their former self, and should be not only enforced more often, but strengthened. Begging is basically welfare benefits fraud. It is a quick and effective method of getting to keep your welfare benefits, and housing benefit for the rent, and with a bit of luck, pocket a couple of hundred pounds a week (or more) undeclared income on top. In other words, Fraud.
So this begs the question. Why bother working?
Begging after all is a stress free way of life, with no upper limits on the income to be made, and its almost impossible for welfare investigators to detect, unless the police arrest and charge them, and then bother to pass on the names and addresses of offenders to the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP), and or the Inland Revenue. The only way is for Magistrates courts to fine, imprison, or impose ASBO's, and always call in welfare investigators to really deter this crime.
It's not a victimless crime ... they are robbing you and I of money we have worked for, while they do nothing but can often quickly afford a reasonable lifestyle for the rest of their lives, simply by sitting on streets, whining 'spare any change mate?'
Why bother working indeed, especially when employers don't pay a living wage effectively scrounging off the rest of us as they force their workers to claim tax credits to top up their meager wage packets.
ReplyDeleteWell that's certainly one point of view Vroomfondel. Another might be that employers took advantage of Gordon Browns benefit aka Tax Credits, which dis-incentivised them from paying a 'working wage' because the tax credit made up the difference.
DeleteIn either case, its an irrelevance, and not really an excuse for people on welfare benefits or working, street begging.