LEFT Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan is urging the government to scrap plans to grab new powers to spy on bank accounts and disqualify people who owe money to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) from driving.

He is tabling amendments to the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which carry forward Tory proposals for mass-scale financial surveillance, using banks to snoop on their customers supposedly to root out welfare overpayments.

Mr Duncan-Jordan said: “I urge ministers to take a step back and look at the message they are sending to welfare recipients and disabled people.