Increased benefit cheat prison sentences 'perverse'

New guidelines which will see benefit cheats face prison sentences of up to 10 years are "pretty perverse", according to a newspaper columnist.

The Independent's Owen Jones says the greater focus should instead be on issues such as corporate tax avoidance and the Libor-fixing scandal.

He said: "I think it's pretty perverse when you're going to end up in a situation where paedophiles, rapists and murders are going to have lower sentences than people who commit benefit fraud."