Pedro Rodrigues (Reporter)
UK Pensions minister Iain Duncan Smith has personally intervened in the case of a benefit cheat exposed by the Olive Press two years ago.
Smith has demanded to know why Norman Brennan was allowed to continue living in Spain despite fleeing the UK in 2008.
Brennan, from Liverpool, had admitted to £120,000 of benefit fraud but had spent the last five years living in Mijas.
He admitted to Liverpool Crown Court that he used his brother’s name to claim housing and council tax benefit, Jobseekers’ Allowance and pension credits.
The government has now intervened after Sky News confronted Brennan this week having picked up our exclusive story.
The Olive Press became aware of Brennan in 2011 after the police, government and Junta all failed to act on tip offs from Brennan’s neighbours.
When quizzed at the time by the Olive Press, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) said: “It would be great to track down Brennan who is awaiting sentencing for fraud.”
But no further action was taken against the retired joiner, despite him remaining at the same address and even receiving post from the pensions department.
Okay Mr Smith, let’s talk about food banks in the UK………………………………….
Perhaps if he catches enough cheats he won’t stop the winter fuel allowance and reduce the amount of health cover for ex pats. There are quite a few things in the pipeline which are going to leave ex pat pensioners poorer and because we have no representation can do nothing about it.
“http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43238”
IDS “demands to know”. He’s in charge of the relevant department! maybe if he looked in his “in” file occasionally instead of tipping people out of their wheelchairs, he might find a real cheat.
UK Pensions minister Iain Duncan Smith has personally intervened in the case of a benefit cheat – The article says but it fails to say that he is responsible for cheating over 500,000 pensioners of their pension uprating. These pensioners live mainly in the Commonwealth countries plus others around the world like Thailand and Singapore. These pensioners have their pensions frozen and are not indexed meaning that although they have paid their mandatory contributions like those that get the indexing they never receive any increases ever. Now that is robbery.
So before you point your finger at other people have a look in the mirror Mr Smith.
It is very difficult to quite know how up to date Iain Duncan Smith is with his information and also whether he actually acts responsibly when he has it!
Recently he said that zero hours contracts would be included in possibly suspending benefits and his Department in an Freedom of information disclosure said they would not.
Then when the Pension Reform Bill had its first reading he claimed that without Clause 20, which freezes pensions in some countries but not others, it would cost knocking on the door of £700 million to uprate; wrong, in the first year the cost would actually be nil and in the second year around £2 million – obviously gradually increasing as the years went on – but not beyond the whit of a competent Secretary of State, his Pensions Minister and the Chancellor to budget for…especially given that the NI Fund is currently in surplus and, if the likes of Mr Brennan were brought to book more promptly, would be even more solvent…