THE minister for disabled people has stated that the DWP will “track you down, find you and bring you to justice” in a bizarre video about tackling fraud.
Tom Pursglove was videoed on a police raid carried out by both the Department for Work and Pension's (DWP) Serious Organised Crime Team and the Metropolitan Police to apprehend “fraudsters who cheated our benefits system.”
This is despite the DWP’s own figures showing that between December 2011 and February 2014 the equivalent of about 90 people a month died after their Employment and Support Allowance claim was ended.
"We will track you down. We will find you. And we will bring you to justice" - Minister for Disabled People @VotePursglove At DWP we have a very particular set of skills that we use in conjuction with the police to tackle fraud Find out more https://t.co/3ZvjWKW5tJ pic.twitter.com/KugSSrIFCG
— Department for Work and Pensions (@DWPgovuk) April 20, 2023
The minister appeared wearing a bulletproof-style vest and the footage also showed police cars and handcuffs, while he threatened to find people who had committed benefit fraud.
Some viewers described the short video as “disgusting”.
Sorry but I can’t get over this… The Minister for Disabled people literally wearing a bulletproof vest with the DWP logo on it, in a video with police cars, flashing lights, handcuffs saying “We will track you down, we will find you”. This is disgusting @VotePursglove pic.twitter.com/TDb4d0bBPe
— Judy Hamilton (@secretspartacus) April 21, 2023
Tax evasion costs the UK Treasury 15 times more than benefit fraud according to Citywire, a London-based financial publishing and information group.
The Tories have also repeatedly come under fire for their treatment of disabled people.
According to The Independent, 17,000 sick and disabled people have died while waiting for benefits since 2013.
The video was ridiculed online after the DWP claimed that they had a “particular set of skills”, similar to the line of Liam Neeson’s character in the film Taken.
At DWP we have a very particular set of skills, that we use in conjuction with the police to tackle fraud, and which we share with all other government departments. Unless of course it concerns a Tory donor or party chairman. pic.twitter.com/lm52mVAQFV
— Stuart Taylor 💙 (@61outof1000) April 20, 2023
There have also been numerous reports of the Tories handing out multi-million-pound personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts to companies with alleged links to Tory politicians.
This includes Michelle Mone, who recommended PPE company Medpro to the UK Government. The firm was subsequently awarded a £200 million contract.
The products were later alleged to not have been of "correct quality standards and specification".
The Baroness was accused of having profited from the lucrative deals, but "completely refuted" allegations of wrongdoing on her part or that of her husband Douglas Barrowman, who was allegedly linked to PPE Medpro.
The UK Government has been criticised for dismantling the welfare state and in some cases the Employment and Support Allowance means that people are living on just £73 a week.
A 2017 UN panel criticised the UK Government’s failure to uphold the rights of disabled people.
