UK Gov’t Wants Sweeping Powers to Spy on Your Bank Account – OffGuardian

The UK’s Labour government announced plans this week that would further erode civil rights in the country, this time in the name of “preventing benefit fraud”.

The plans include revoking the driver’s licenses of those convicted of benefit fraud, “early morning raids” by “crack teams” from the DWP, and –  most shockingly – permitting the government access to private banking information so they can take back money they believe they are owed, without the knowledge or permission of the accused.

In their own classically impartial fashion, the BBC reported this as:

Benefit cheats could be stripped of driving licenses

But this isn’t about “benefit cheats”. Even the government’s own figures say that benefit fraud makes up only ~3% of the welfare budget, and this move will only save £1.5 billion over the next five years.

£300 million per year is nothing in government terms. They just pledged 10x that amount, per year, to Ukraine.

They don’t care about the money, they care about power and precedent.

• They want to be able to take away your driver’s license.
• They want to be able to monitor your bank account.
• They want to be able to take your money without your knowledge.
• They want to be able to search your electronic devices and track your spending.

Maybe it will start with “reclaiming benefits”, but do you think it will end there?

Remember they also want to introduce Universal Basic Income, which would mean – technically – everyone is on “benefits”.

This is clearly a pathway to a “Social Credit” system.

Big Brother Watch are doing great work on this:

? The Government’s new sweeping mass bank spying powers:

? Taking money directly from bank accounts
? Constantly monitoring bank statements
? Revoking driving licenses
?? Searching houses & devices

This affects everyone. We must stop them. pic.twitter.com/A5ESVsnNKW

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) January 22, 2025

You can sign their petition HERE.