Monday, September 03, 2007

AINT SCIENCE WONDERFUL?

"Benefit claimants and job seekers could be forced to take lie detector tests as early as next year after an early review of a pilot scheme exposed 126 benefit cheats in just three months, saving one local authority £110,000. ..The technology is being tested on people claiming housing or council tax benefit but will be extended at Harrow Jobcentre for other benefits this year. ..Experts in America, where the most comprehensive scrutiny of the technology has taken place, warn that the technology is far from failsafe. David Ashe, chief deputy of the Virginia Board for Professional and Occupational Regulation, said, 'The experience of being tested, or of claiming a benefit and being told that your voice is being checked for lies, is inherently stressful. 'Lie detector tests have a tendency to pass people for whom deception is a way of life and fail those who are scrupulously honest.' (Observer, 2 September)
We wonder if it would be possible to ask members of the capitalist class if they think they deserve their immense wealth while others starve, but what would be the point as the expert said there is a tendency to pass those "for whom deception is a way of life". RD

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

a truly obnoxious proposal...

sign a petition against it here...

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ofbenefit/