MPs table motion against DWP plans to start monitoring bank accounts

MPs have tabled a motion against the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) banking monitoring proposals. Almost 30 MPs have tabled a parliamentary motion warning that the new bank account checks could be the next ‘Post and Horizon Scandal’.

The motion states “that this house is deeply alarmed by the new powers contained in the Data Protection and Digital Information Act, which would allow the Government to engage in mass surveillance of the bank accounts of tens of millions of people”.

It goes on to claim that the legal update “would force banks to spy on the 23 million people in the welfare system, including the disabled, sick, carers, jobseekers and pensioners, as well as the data private banking accounts of related persons. them, including partners, parents, owners and other associates”.

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MPs also say the new surveillance regime “will rely on systems using artificial intelligence to monitor the accounts” of benefit recipients – something that “risks creating a Post Office-style scandal”.

“(This House) believes this is a huge violation of an individual’s right to financial privacy and violates the presumption of innocence principle that people should not be spied on unless the police suspect wrongdoing,” the motion adds.

“(It) rejects the idea of ​​implicitly treating people with disabilities, the sick, carers or those looking for work as criminals; also believes that the government already has significant powers to review the bank statements of suspected fraudsters under existing laws; and calls on the government to remove these powers from the Data Protection and Digital Information Act.”

A total of 16 Labor MPs signed the motion, as well as members from the Liberal Democrat Party, the Green Party, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and the Democratic Unionist Party. Former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn is among the MPs set to sign.