British Government Encouraging Kids To Report Tax Evaders?Brit Dee, Contributor The allegation relates to a document available on the HMRC website, used as a Citizenship module in schools to teach kids why they should become responsible taxpayers. Page 2 of the Key Stage 4 lesson plan, designed for use by 14 to 16 year olds, involves a classroom discussion in which students debate whether it is good to pay the tax we do, considering the benefits we receive. If it is good, then why do people try not to pay? The teacher must then ask what students think of those who refuse to pay tax or try and defraud the benefits system? Can they think of any example they may have heard of in their local area? The independent thinktank Civitas, an institute for the study of civil society, has described the lesson as reminiscent of George Orwells novel 1984, in which kids snoop on their parents and report them to Big Brother. Civitas David Green said, People in their local area are most likely to be parents or close relatives. Turning children into state spies is un-British. Rev Mullen recounts a local hotel proprietress describing how, during the Communist dictatorship, teachers would try and get schoolchildren to inform on their parents by asking questions such as, Did your parents have anyone to dinner last night? Do you know who they were? What did they talk about? He concludes by warning: Spying, snooping and informing on your neighbours are the institutionalised paranoia which is the natural accompaniment of totalitarianism. Thats the way were going in the EU in general and in Britain in particular: Eastern Europe pre-1989. HMRC has dismissed the accusations, saying that We certainly dont use this to collect information on tax evaders from children. These materials are solely designed to help children to learn about how tax works in Britain. The controversy comes in the same week that Treasury minister David Gauke described paying for services cash in hand as morally wrong despite leading politicians, including prime minister David Cameron, admitting to having made cash payments to tradesmen. This article first appeared at ResistRadio.com Brit Dees ResistRadio.com is an independent media website approaching global news, politics and conspiracy theory from a radical, but critical and rational perspective. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 