Thread by @RespectIsVital

1/ When challenged about Labour pledging to scrap Universal Credit offer an immediate £3bn package if elected, you'll likely get
a) Benefit Scrounger rhetoric
b) How do we pay for it?
c) Labour want to give immigrants everything.

CONTINUED

2/ to answer a), 0.3%, approx £300 million (m) of the entire welfare budget is lost to fraudulent activity by claimants.

Meanwhile, £1.2 BILLION (bn) is lost in DWP clerical errors & 900m in DWP overpayments.

That answers part of b) if these can be fixed.

CONTINUED

3/ Labour have pledged to bring all health assessments back "in-house" thus scrapping the costly outsourcing to Atos etc. Over £1bn in savings.

Assessments are to be weighted towards claimant Dr etc with less face to face assessments. Thus saving money.

CONTINUED

4/ A massive saving will come from a huge reduction in legal costs racked up by the DWP in a) Court Cases & b) Tribunal Fees & Costs.

Again going towards the "how do they pay for it" argument.

CONTINUED

5/ Then comes the clampdown on tax evasion/avoidance. HMRC put this at LEAST £55bn a year, with the highest estimate at £155 BILLION a year.

This would cover the cost, and some.

To answer c), it's simple. Immigrants can't just come here and claim benefits.

CONTINUED

6/ People who come here to work, EU cit or not have to work for a certain amount of time. You *can't just come here for benefits.

Asylum seekers granted leave to remain, are highly likely to find work once settled.

It's just gaslighting to use immigrants re benefits.

CONTINUED

7/ Overall, there are massive savings that can be made just in the DWP itself.

It's disorganized & wastes money on legal fees like there's a bottomless pit of money.

Outsourcing is ineffective, costly & unaccountable.

And £2bn in DWP errors, is just plain unacceptable.

END