Ed Miliband discovers benefit fraud

Miliband was not comfortable discussing benefit fraud on a visit to a Sunderland factory last year, but the Mail reports that he is now to condemn the ‘evil’ of scroungers who refuse to work.

He will admit Labour blundered by not doing enough to combat the work-shy.

And he will say that people should get state handouts only if they have paid their taxes first.

It will fall to Liam Byrne to admit that Labour allowed the benefits system to spiral out of control.

Step forward hopeless minister Yvette Cooper. What did you do on your watch?

"A source" told the Mail:

Canvassing during the last Election, Mr Byrne was shocked by doorstep fury among Labour voters at benefit spongers – and Labour’s failure to tackle the problem.

Decent Labour voters see their neighbours lie about all day and get benefits while they are working their socks off, and say, “Why should I vote Labour when they let this happen?”.

Evidently Byrne is not expected to set out specific plans to deal with benefits abuse - he wants the credit for the policy stance without the squeals from the chattering classes - but is thought to favour much tougher curbs to force the work-shy to take jobs or lose their handouts.

He is studying schemes in the U.S. and Australia where much tougher sanctions are applied.

His speech will stress that the benefits system must focus on the needs of the ‘hard-working majority’ and should ‘not pay out before people have paid in’