The prime minister has rejected a claim by Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols that government welfare reform is leaving people in "destitution".

David Cameron said he respected his view but disagreed with it "deeply", in an article for the Daily Telegraph.

Social reform was giving "new hope and new responsibility" to people, and was part of his "moral mission", he wrote.

The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales described the changes as a "disgrace" last weekend.

...

The religion think tank Theos said the debate on benefits needed to look beyond individual policies and consider the fundamental moral question of what "welfare is for".

Publishing a collection of essays by public figures on the subject, it said there was a general consensus that individuals had a responsibility to each other, not just themselves.

But it said people need to be able to "connect what they put in to what they get out" of the welfare state and this link "has been lost over recent decades".

Full article on BBC News