Graphic showing the vast scale of the Bank bailouts compared to estimates of benefit fraud for the last ten years


The bailout figure is £1.3trillion, the established Bank of England estimate.

The benefit fraud figure is calculated by adding up Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) estimates of fraud for the last ten years – see “Fraud and Error in the Benefit System, 2009-2010”, page 17 Table 3.1.

Thanks to James Meadway for this comparison.

Also see: ‘Who are the real fraudsters?’

Alex Snowdon & James Meadway

Alex Snowdon is a Counterfire activist in Newcastle. He is active in the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition and the National Education Union.​ He is the author of A Short Guide to Israeli Apartheid (2022).

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