Bill I agree...we have scroungers as well. I am all for making people work...a fair days pay for a fair days work...as long as the folk who legitimately cannot work like the disabled and elderly and infirm etc are well catered for. We have a National Health Service and a Social Security service that is the envy of the world...that said it has been bled dry and abused by those who take advantage rather than used as a safety net by those who truly need and deserve it.
I too am in favour of direct tax rather than the current making up your own numbers system and pay the government what you want to pay we both seem to have...but like you say it is kinda hard to enforce. I suspect that your country has a similar or even worse black market and grey economy than we do. These areas should be investigated and stopped with heavy penalties for the transgressors. We also have illegal immigrants and even legal immigrants coming out of our ears...they take our jobs cause they will work longer and for less, send most of their pay back home so it is not reinvested in our economy and they also work in this grey economy for cash in hand no tax or insurance etc for much less than minimum wage.
Now Bill you have come up with a brainwave...tax cannabis and other illegal substances....all our trouble will be over.
That said I still think that the gap between rich and poor in both our countries is unjustifiably way too wide....... needs reducing.
Just in case you think you were getting it all your own way with me agreeing to everything...I will say this.......we need unions and they need more power.......if it was not for unions we would not have health and safety laws....proper wages.......pension funds..... and they would still be sending kids into mines and up chimneys.....they probably still would if they could get away with it.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=687727&songID=5238055