I thought benefits were capped at £25,000?

You mean "disabled" like White Dee from benefits street? She's so "disabled" from depression she cannot work - but shes totally fine to go clubbing in Ibiza (or wherever it was).

Amazing that eh?

You seem to think everything is done for a monetary reason. I don't care if it costs a little more money to check benefit claimants if it acts as a deterrent in to them fraudulently claiming.

This isn't just about "what is the best return for the taxpayer" its about "what precedent should we be setting" and throwing free cash at people shouldn't be it!

Why not? Free cash (subsistence plus a little bit extra, not enough to save) thrown at the poor improves their quality of life and improves the economy, because it's all spent.

So you admit that the only reason you want to restrict people from claiming benefits is due to your Arbeit macht frei ideology, rather than sound economic arguments.

You clearly haven't got the slightest idea how depression works. Just stop whining and let people have the money they're entitled to without persecuting them.

Disabilities can fluctuate - I am disabled by mental health conditions but that doesn't mean I never ever have a decent day or two where I can do something nice - it just means that I don't know when those days are going to be, and they are not the norm. It also means that by the same example I have some decent days where I could work, and I'm actually job-seeking right now, but I'd like to know who exactly would employ me on the basis that some days I wake up and am too ill to work and there's nothing I can do about that at all?

You mean "disabled" like White Dee from benefits street? She's so "disabled" from depression she cannot work - but shes totally fine to go clubbing in Ibiza (or wherever it was).

Amazing that eh?

Oh they fluctuate? Amazing that they just seem to fluctuate when she wants to go on holiday but as soon as she gets back they suddenly reappear?

And since when was being depressed a disability!? Millions of people are depressed- they still work!

It depends to what extent it affects them.

My point? Being depressed doesnt stop someone from working.
Most people who are genuine try hard to overcome it and usually do. So yes, they will usually get back into employment by choice. Although I am aware this isn't what you meant.

Put it this way- if we reduced her benefits i'm sure as hell she'd suddenly find a job fine!

Also, how is this news? Does nobody think about how these children might be treated now that their parents are being 'exposed' by a national newspaper as being money-grabbers or whatever? In my opinion this is immoral reporting that will negatively affect children that have no say in being born/to which parents they are born. Is nothing else going on here that we have to read stories like that and direct our anger at big families? A very small minority of people living off welfare benefits take the piss out of the system (and to be fair at least those people are actually working and contributing to society somewhat as well), BUT I'd much rather have a system that allows some people to take the piss out of it than a system that leaves vast swathes of the population trapped in endless cycles of suffering, particularly harming children who are completely blame-less.

Where are all the DM articles about the Astra-Zeneca talks? What about politicians and bankers being exposed in this way for being the narcissistic money-grabbers they are? What about the UKIP MEPs' expenses and benefits scandals? I've never seen that in the DM before. There are endless numbers of the super-rich effectively stealing money from us every day in off-shore bank accounts and yet the DM is focusing on a few families who want to have a holiday. It's perfectly clear which group of people are stealing the most money from the general taxpayer but the media it seems would have people believe otherwise.