@ BGB - I wouldn't budge, if I was him
You can't retrospectively apply regulations! That's even more unfair than what he did.

He acted completely legitimately according to the rules of the system at such time as he was acting. You can't then define a new set of rules and judge everything he did in the past by them.

I say again, I think stuff like this is reprehensible, but it's the fault of the people who made the rules, not the fault of the people who were playing by them.

How would you feel if you earnt minimum wage, a new law was passed bringing minimum wage down to £2.50 p/h, and then your employer/the Revenue gave you a bill for £25k worth of overpayments, because they decided that the new law would apply from a date five years ago. You'd be pretty pissed off, wouldn't you?

@ al - yeah, that's the only sticking point with my argument. I'm yet to see any evidence that he broke the letter of the law, although there's no doubt he acted cuntishly.
(username1, Wed 25 Mar 2009, 15:17, Reply)