I see that Iain Duncan Smith has been in Madrid to congratulate the benefit fraud team on recovering £5 million of UK taxpayer's money as a result of investigating around 1,200 cases of alleged benefit fraud by British expats. Don't get me wrong, I hold no brief for this sort of thing, but I really wonder why there is such a sustained campaign going on here, when most of the real benefit cheats can be found in the UK.
For a start, aren't the MPs who have been convicted of falsely claiming expenses also benefit frauds? After all, they are also cheating the taxpayer. And the poor souls think they are underpaid at over £66,000 a year, so they will get an 11% pay rise in 2015 - although everyone else is supposed to be happy with 1% until the economy recovers. And let's not forget that many MPs also have other jobs, or directorships, so they're not exactly on the breadline to start with.
As I said, I don't hold with benefit fraud, but everything that Iain Duncan Smith is doing is not making an impression on the real fraudsters, who claim for fictitious husbands,wives and children, or set up fake identities to claim benefits. It's relatively easy to catch a guy like Nigel Hadley, who has taken £26,000 he's not entitled to, then force him to sell his house to pay the money back. He has six months to repay the money, or he'll be sent to jail.
Yet a Somali illegal immigrant who has systematically defrauded UK taxpayers to the tune of £91,000 by using false identities will not have to repay the money, and will not face a custodial sentence. The story is here, if you have the stomach for it. Both of these people have defrauded the benefits system, yet the guy who kept his Spanish property quiet is made an example of, while the illegal immigrant won't have to pay back a penny and won't even be deported.
And of course, IDS and George Osborne are also keen to bring in the Temperature Test to strip British pensioners in Spain who have paid into the system all their working lives of the Winter Fuel Allowance. Remember that this payment was only brought in in the first place to pad out the meagre British pension.
I have a suggestion - though I don't suppose anybody at the DWP is remotely interested, because it just might be a fair system. Take back the WFA from all but the poorest pensioners, but allow the rest to enjoy their retirement without having to pay tax on their pensions, or on any investment income they may have. After all, we've already paid income tax on the money in our savings accounts, because it's come from income during the working years which was, of course, taxed. So in effect, you're taxing us twice for being responsible and setting aside money for a rainy day.
Pensions are maybe a bit more complex, since you do get tax relief on contributions to pension funds. However, in the case of Civil Servants, their so-called 'non contributory' pensions are funded by holding back part of their salary increase. Or at least that was the case when my husband was a Civil Servant - it may be different now. And in the case of the State Pension, all those who draw it have paid National Insurance contributions all their working lives, or their spouses have paid on their behalf.
The Government is not giving handouts to pensioners - we're just getting something back for what we've paid in over the years. Unlike people who go onto benefits straight from school and have no intention of ever working, or people who come in from other countries with the express intent of living off the state and sending cash back home.
Maybe it's time to stop labelling almost everyone who has made the move to Spain as benefit cheats and moaning pensioners. Yes, there are fraudsters who need to be caught and punished, and yes, there are pensioners - and younger people, for that matter - with an inflated sense of entitlement.
However, the vast majority of us just want to enjoy the years we have left in the place that is most beneficial to our health and wellbeing. And lots of us are still contributing to the UK economy, because we're still paying UK taxes, since we're on government pensions which are paid - and taxed - in Sterling.
Go after the real benefit frauds, and stop persecuting the expats in Spain. The £5 million which Iain Duncan Smith is so buoyant about is a tiny drop in an enormous ocean. And while we're on that subject, how much of that £5 million did it cost to bring IDS and his entourage over to Spain to have yet another pop at the Brits in Spain? Just asking!
Meanwhile, the UK's borders - and benefit system - remain wide open to whoever fancies a trip to England's Green And Pleasant Land. And the real benefit frauds are laughing all the way to the bank.
