Yet more nastiness from the Eton toff who'll never need to claim a penny off the benefit system in his life, and seems to have a pathological hatred of anyone else forced to do so.
Interstingly the benefits minister on the Today program this morning was forced to admit that the Tories had overstated the amount fraudulently claimed by some 5 times and that the true figure for fraud was in fact £1.1 Billion. He was also forced to admit that clerical errors within the benefits agency accounted for the remainder (but they won't tackling that with the same zeal).
Every week since Camerons rotten & greedy mob has come to power there has been attacks on benefits claimants. Fair enough if people are fraudulently claiming, but the effect that this is having on people legitamtely claiming is devastating.

If Cameron was honest about saving money he would be chasing those people who cheat the tax system and deprive the exchequer of 15 times more money than benefits cheats, or how about the number of people who come to the UK from abroad to use the NHS system for free? (health tourism) the figures for that are unknown, but are known to be very high.

Yet again it comes down to the nasty Tory party harassing the weakest in society while leaving its rich friends to get on with cheating the system, on the nod.

No doubt soon we'll see the first mention of the return of the work house!

LETS FIRSTLY GET THIS INTO PERSPECTIVE ,TERENCE READ WASNT OVERPAID 19 THOUSAND POUNDS HE STOLE 19 GRAND BY MAKING FALSE CLAIMS AS TO HIS SO CALLED DISABLEMENT.THE BENEFITS AGENCY SHOULD DO MORE INTENSIVE INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE WELL BEING OF PPL CLAIMING BENEFITS.IF IT MEANS DELVING INTO HOSPITAL RECORDS THEN SO BE IT IF YOU ARE CLAIMING DISABILITY AND ARE GENUINLY IN NEED OF THIS PAYMENT THEN YOU WOULD GLADLY GIVE THEM CONSENT INTO VIEWING YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS.

What about the tax avoiders, Dave? I hear benefit fraud costa £1.5bn, I believe tax avoidance is in excess of this. Or are they are OK because they vote Tory?

In any case its all pie in the sky - every governmnet vows to tackle tax avoidance, benefit fraud and government waste. None of them ever achieve a great deal with respect to these three "easy" targets.

This is a sop to the Daily Mail reading non-thinkers out there

Lets hope Mr Cameron dosent throw people who genuinely need benefits off them. I know someone who has had 3 heart attacks, a busted wrist and ankle from an earlier accident and a muscle disease in their shoulder and they where denied disability living allowance for 2 years.....absolutely disgraceful.

"This is a sop to the Daily Mail reading non-thinkers out there."

No it's proof that the rich & powerful really run this country - the sorts who employ accountants to minimise or eliminate their tax bill whilst calling for those at the bottom of the pile to be scrutinised in close detail.

When the rich pay 100% of their tax due is the time to turn the spotlight on the less fortunate, and not one minute before.

What about the Bankers David? How about you announce a crackdown on their greed and claim back some of the lost billions from their profits and bonuses. How about we charge them interest on the money they take from us, 16.9% would do the trick.

Fine as long he has the same appetite for bankers, fraudulent directors, off shore freaks (Lord Ashcroft), non domiciles, and oh dont forget the very own 650 cheating, fiddling, under worked, over paid free loading parasites called MP.s, tougher sentences he mentions also, Ken Clarke hope your listening fat ken as you are on the verge of giving murderers community service

Grumpster, I don't think any one claiming disability would want the snoopers picking over their medical records, after all what are doctors for if they can't make accurate records, and what is the point of the Tories new over zealous medical assessments, if snoopers then need to pick over them looking for the tiniest reason to refuse a claim?

Do you think the civil service has a good record of keeping personal details secure? I can remember several instances where stupid managers have left laptops on trains and had them taken, all containing peoples personal data. Or how about the time an office junior was instructed to send thousands of tax records on CD through the post 2nd class? All examples of personal data being lost en masse.

Like many of the blinkered sheep Grumpster you've swallowed the Tories lies & bias. Yes there are a few people fraudulently claiming, but not as many as you're being led to believe, and the effect that this is having on those who are genuinely claiming is terrible. Fair enough to weed out the fraudsters, but to go on about it week after week after week, just shows that Cameron has got a real idealogical problem with benefits and those who need them.

No doubt he'd like a return to the poor law as well

dmoss for prime ministrer

they say "force them backt into work" you have to assume theres work to go back to.

when the VAT increase hits, unemployment will rocket again because people will have no confidence in the economy.

Although I agree with Cameron that the benefit cheats should be brought to book when caught why was it that only 4 or 5 MPs were summoned to answer charges for fiddling their expenses. A majority of MPs were caught fiddling if that were the ordinary Joe on the street instead of MPs everyone would have been in court.

The likes of Labour MP Jacqui Smith who claimed for porn and Conservative MP Douglas Hogg who claimed for his moat Blears openly admitted in the press showing tax cheque should of paid and Arburthnot claiming for the cleaning of his swimming pool, one MP claimed for manure for his garden, so many MPs yet so few prosecutions.

A lot of MPs never returned to Parliament after the election but they still got a healthy pay off so the taxpayer were in the words of ex MP Robert Kilroy-Silk, .SHAFTED twice and they sail off into the sunset like butter wouldn’t melt.

do they think we have forgotten about the expenses scandal?

I have no problem with benefit cheats being caught. Every day I see young people in Manchester City Centre with no job wandering about, sitting in Piccadilly Gardens drinking cans of lagar, I know of at least three families where none of them have ever had a job and have no intention of getting one, but can afford to drink in the local regularly and even go on holiday, I know of people who have in the past arranged their holidays around their signing on day do they don't lose their job seeker allowance. There are thousands of people out there who look on benefits as their right even when they have never paid a penny in tax or national insurance. It really is about time the benefit system was changed. My only worry would be that those cases who are genuine will lose out. We should stop foreign nationals using our NHS and yes the Government should also sort out those who are cheating the tax system. My husband was made redundant after 28 years with the same firm, the firm went bust so he only got the government redundancy payment. He was given 90 days notice which he didn't have to work. so he signed on. After 90 days he got his 90 days pay minus every penny of his job seeker allowance. He found another job thank god. NO there are too many out there milking it for allits worth and yes I agree it wants stopping.

Its about time that the government stopped this theift from the working citizens.It costs us all when people theive from the system .We have people walking into britain to theive from our health and benefit system.we also have our own people theiving money from the benefit system which must be stopped ,this also costs us millions each month.But cameron must also track down the Tax fiddlers and tax fraudsters "Of which we have a lot".

dear god these comments are atrocious. I am a hard working tax payer. I regularily put in 60hr weeks to support my family and it absolutely gauls me that there are little scrouging layabouts out there living of my hard earned taxes. The past 13yrs or Labour inadequecy has led to a benefits culture where it is more beneficial for some people to stay on the dole than to get of their fat lazy backsides and contribute to society. I say good on Dave for tackling this problem. All claiments should be re-checked far more thoroughly than they were under the previous rabble and a good many should have their benefits stopped altogether. There are plenty of jobs out there but quite a lot of these benefits scroungers think they are too good to do them or that the jobs are too menial and beneath them. There are thousands of Polish migrant workers up and down this country in good honest employment. If they are prepared to travel over here to earn, our lot should be prepared to do the same. Like the moronic characters in Shameless though, they just can't be bothered. Oh and for those harping on about tax avoidance... this country has some of the most stringent rules on tax avoidance in the world but people with money will always attempt to find a way around it. If taxes weren't so high on those that earn more money, there wouldn't be the need to attempt to avoid them. What is the motivation to work hard to earn more money if all that happens is the government takes 50% of it to support those than can't be bothered to work...???

dear god these comments are atrocious. I am a hard working tax payer. I regularily put in 60hr weeks to support my family and it absolutely gauls me that there are little scrouging layabouts out there living of my hard earned taxes. The past 13yrs or Labour inadequecy has led to a benefits culture where it is more beneficial for some people to stay on the dole than to get of their fat lazy arses and contribute to society. I say good on Dave for tackling this problem. All claiments should be re-checked far more thoroughly than they were under the previous rabble and a good many should have their benefits stopped altogether. There are plenty of jobs out there but quite a lot of these benefits scroungers think they are too good to do them or that the jobs are too menial and beneath them. There are thousands of Polish migrant workers up and down this country in good honest employment. If they are prepared to travel over here to earn, our lot should be prepared to do the same. Like the moronic characters in Shameless though, they just can't be bothered. Oh and for those harping on about tax avoidance... this country has some of the most stringent rules on tax avoidance in the world but people with money will always attempt to find a way around it. If taxes weren't so high on those that earn more money, there wouldn't be the need to attempt to avoid them. What is the motivation to work hard to earn more money if all that happens is the government takes 50% of it to support those than can't be bothered to work...???

If Cameron would like to see social unrest in the UK, then carry on condemning!"

The sooner the better,the taxpayers are being taken for a ride,give them vouchers instead of cash,then the money would not be spent in pubs or betting shops.

My aunt is forced to live on £75 a fortnight, she is partly deaf and partially sighted and has reynauds disease in her hands, DSS (or whatever it's called) has taken over the payment of her gas and electricity as she could no longer manage on this meagre amount of money, I think this is a joke when if she was a druggie and had 5 brats all with different dads she'd be getting 10 times as much, so Cameron's right, the system does need a big sort out, it's unjust and unfair the way it is just now, kick out the hangers on and the crooks and give the money to the people who really need it. BTW I think Thoughtful of east manchester is one of the layabouts that is getting scared of Cameron derailing his little New Labour gravy train of benefits, just need to get up off your lazy backside and work for your money now, won't you!

I think some posters are getting mixed up between tax avoidance (which surely we all try to do if possible) and tax evasion which is the illegal act. However, although I despise benefit fraudsters, it has to be said that tax evasion is a far bigger problem.

These are 2008 figures: At £30 billion per year, fraud in the UK is more than twice as high as thought, with tax evasion costing the public purse over £15 billion per year and benefit fraud just over £1 billion.

I suppose in the end two wrongs don't make a right but Cameron should concentrate much more on tax evasion - but he won't because he's a Tory.

It is a total witch hunt for people on benefits.
What they are trying to do is , people that are claiming benefits are made to feel like a peasant begging for money , and you have to beg for your money.

They know they cant get some people into work , so what we will do is `Sicken them` back to work.

Ive been on benefits and i can tell you , i claimed for alot of things and the money is terrible , jumping through ridiculous hoops.

Housing benefit reductions , it is not the claimers fault that landlords etc are wanting to charge more and more , its disgusting what is happening here.

I think DC is right I don't think that we should have poor people here, can we not send them somewhere overseas with all the Jonny Foriegners!

DC is quite right our problems in this country come from the people at the bottom we should keeping looking down with disdain and up with adulation, as they are defrauding this great nation out of 5 billlion a year, the weak, poor, the lazy and feckless. The people at the top will save us especially the ones who are exiled overseas, they are the ones who can steer this once great nation from the brink of destruction, they are right not to pay the correct taxes why should they, when they work hard making money out of the people in Briatin. If I had my way I would line the poor all up against the wall.....

Simple, Vote Tory

Hello, I agree with Virus, Manchester Once again you only publish stories about people defrauding the Benefits System, But you never publish the number of people that are being CHEATED out of their Benefits by the Benefits Agency themselves, why do I say this? because Iam an 81 year old severely disabled (born with cerebral paulsea)and I have been cheated out of my Pension Credit & Council Tax Benefit for the last 6 years, I have been up before 2 Tribunals, both chaired by the same old Lady who decided against me, and also made allegations against that where totally untrue in contradiction of a decision made by a Crown Court Judge in 1989, in other words saying that the Crown court judge when he found me not guilty of an offence, which she now says Iam guilty of,this last Tribunal was held only yesterday,I think there must be a lot of others that faced a DWP Tribunal and suffered similar mis-carriages of justice the same as I have, I hope my story helps someone else, as I have nobody to help me. Maybe you can send my comment to David Cameron, Ive written to everyone else but nobody wants to listen, Regards from old oddlegs from Bury

Never mind overpayments what about the thousends of people in dire straits who are are not getting the benifits they are entitled to.I hope our "Dear Leader" and his "BIG SOCIETY" will run a paralell investigation into their own BIG CON.
John Young
London

Jon F

Whilst I understand your feelings and share them consider this.

1) Far more money is lost to tax avoidance than benefit theft

2) Any crackdown on benefit fraud is likely to only recover very modest sums - successive governments try, successive governments fail

3) Any crackdown on benefits is likely to affect some peole (the most vulnerable) who ought to be getting the benefit.

Personally I would like to see the system changed so that if you haven't put in within the last 5 years you get a lot less out, unless there really is a valid reason why you couldn't put in (this would be highly exceptional)

I suggest Cameron gets to Collinghurst Estate in Manchester and force the idle sods there on benfits to get off their backsides and get a job;they whinge and moan when confronted saying "why should I?" when they appear on television-that's NO excuse!