The cruellest element of 12 years of Tory rule has been the attack on social security.
David Cameron won power in 2010 and decided to slash the deficit by taking money away from the poor.
People on low incomes did not cause the financial crash but Cameron’s odious Government made sure it was hard-pressed Britons who paid the bill.
One of the nastiest policies was the so-called “benefits cap”, which placed an arbitrary limit on help for the vulnerable.
It was rooted in the nasty belief that people were milking the system at the expense of the hard-working majority.
The reality is the cap was an ill-considered and prejudiced response that punishes people who are genuinely vulnerable.
The policy also gives the impression that people on benefits pocket huge amounts of money.
The truth is a large chunk of the cash goes to landlords to pay the exorbitant rents they charge.
It is excellent that the Poverty Alliance charity is leading a campaign to scrap the cap.
Backed by nearly 50 organisations, they make the correct observation that the policy hits lone parents and people from ethnic minorities the hardest.
Folk who depend on benefits are facing a tough 2022, given the cost of living crisis.
But although their costs will go up, they will hit the brick wall of a cruel cap on their payments.
The social security system should be based on need, not the sort of stigmatising nonsense we have witnessed for over a decade.
People pay price
Consumer champion Martin Lewis’s warning of the impact of soaring energy prices should be heeded.
He predicts struggling households will be unable to cope with exorbitant bills and says immediate action is necessary.
Lewis believes lives are at risk if people are forced to choose between heating and eating and has called for the introduction of measures to help ease the burden.
He has suggested a vulnerable customer price cap, cutting VAT on energy and extending the warm homes discount to those on Universal Credit.
These proposals are practical and would make a difference for millions of people across the country who are facing a crisis that is not of their own making.
More money has to be found perhaps, as Lewis suggests, through general taxation or a windfall tax.
Asking vulnerable people to bear the brunt of the surge in energy prices without significant support is a recipe for disaster.
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