After George Osborne's budget announcement last week, now seems like a good time to dispel the myth of the 'benefits scrounger'. Here are David Eyre's thoughts on why it's about time we dismiss the idea that hordes of people in the UK are taking advantage of the system.
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Today is the deadline for many people, maybe some of you too, to submit their tax returns to HMRC. Many people pay tax in the UK, but not everyone plays fair. Some people in the UK cheat: they illegally evade at least £5.2bn in tax every year, through tax havens. This is a lot of money; it's equivalent to £200 a year for every household in the UK.
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Oxfam loves the movies. We've got more than 500 videos on our channel and together people like you have watched them nearly 4 million times! For this week's chart, prepare to make it 4 million and ten - turn up the volume, ready your finger over that "share" button, and check out some of our favourite Oxfam videos.
1. Breakdancing pregnant women
With more than 1.3m...
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Oxfam staff are as excited by the Olympics as the rest of the UK. You might be surprised by how much we and the sporting competition have in common. Here are our top 10 Olympic Oxfam facts!
All of the countries where Oxfam works are represented at London 2012. 10 of them have already won at least one gold medal!
Oxfam works in 3 of London 2012's top 10 (so far) medal winning countries: China,...
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With Oxfam's UK Poverty Program warning of a 'perfect storm' of welfare cuts and spiralling living costs and Oxfam campaigners taking to the streets to explain why one in seven people worldwide are going hungry, we desperately need some food solutions. I asked Rosa Fletcher from the UK charity FoodCycle how they are tackling the broken food system right on our doorstep.
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Times are tough. The economy's back in recession. It's an age of austerity. So far, so familiar.
But Oxfam's new report on UK poverty tells us two important things that we hope will shift a few perceptions. First, people in poverty are being hit hardest. Indeed, the number of things hitting at the same time are why we're describing it as a 'perfect storm'.
Second - and no less important - is that this is...
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Sir Tom Hunter isn't the only person who passes judgement on people he doesn't know. We all do it occasionally.
But Sir Tom is rich and successful.
So people listen when he says the welfare state has created 'pampered, dependent people who expect what others strive and graft hard for'.
But there is a risk here.
If we base policies on assumptions, myths and stereotypes, we can end up harming...
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