Re: Government Noses

[[EMAIL PROTECTED]]

Roland Perry writes: 

> Roland Perry writes:


> > But that is not what I was saying... 
> >
> > I was pointing out that if, as Simon would have it, they are not 
> > collecting
> > information on the public at large,  their rate of accurately identifying
> > people as criminal or not must be nearly 100% before they even start
> > collecting the intelligence, let alone contemplating the prosecution.
>
> On one hand, most people have probably inadvertently infringed one or 
> other of their rules. 
>
> On the other hand, doing an investigation and prosecution are sufficiently 
> onerous that they are perhaps only going after the worst offenders, rather 
> than indulging in fishing expeditions. Not everyone would agree that this 
> is the case, though. 
>
> But the most important thing to remember is that they don't need to be 
> collecting information on everyone "just in case" (they'd be swamped), 
> because it's easy enough for them to get the information on the relatively 
> few they investigate, on an ad-hoc basis. Their proposition being that 
> they have sufficient instinct to investigate mainly people who turn out to 
> be guilty. (Although the 99% figure pertained to those they then choose to 
> prosecute).

If I may say so that misses the point. Simon was bneing amused at the 
paranoia of someone who thought the government were watching our every move. 
He suggested this was only for serious crooks. I pointed out that the 
government thorough this advert was seeking to put the general populace of 
benefit claimants in fear. 

Simon said it was only those who were cheating. Other countered that since 
the idea of the snooping was to discover fraudulent claimants, the net must 
be cast rather wider. 

I still think the utter disgrace is the idea taht it is fun for the 
government to put us in fear of their power over us. 

As a piece of government advertising it remains thoroughly disgraceful. 
Simon's friend in Whitehall might just as well employ people to spit at 
claimants as they walk into DSS offices. 




--
David Swarbrick [EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.lawindexpro.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1484 384767