Dear Editor,

In answer to the November 15th letter from “name and address supplied.”

Yes, just as the rich have always perpetuated the myth that those less fortunate are poor because they can’t manage their money, there have always been the rich, poor and those in between. This does not mean however, that we should willingly accept the widening of these margins as our current Government successfully implements its sneaky systematic economic divide.

The example you selectively chose to demonstrate the behaviour of a person on benefits was an extreme one.

It also can’t be assumed that this person was doing wrong. Is it right to assume that someone is able-bodied merely by looking at them? Can a health problem really be easily detected with a surreptitious disapproving glance? If someone jokes about something, does this guarantee that they are happy about it?

It’s most likely that someone using a taxi service to get themselves and their heavy produce home is doing so because (aside from the fact that they can’t afford to buy or run a car) they have disabilities/illnesses that make it difficult for them to walk distances and use public transport for this purpose.

As for mobile phones, is it fair to even begrudge a person this? An awful lot of people choose to have a mobile rather than a landline these days as it’s cheaper. Furthermore, food banks are not "something for free", an opportunity that will just be taken up increasingly because it’s there. There is an eligibility criteria.

Unfortunately the views of so many who defend the Tories and Universal Credit, are those of someone lucky enough to find themselves in a very naive position when it comes to such matters.

Universal Credit is only working in the sense that it enables our ruthless government to say that unemployment is down since they brought it in. The reality is that they are forcing people to take zero hours contracts with no security, or jobs that are so badly paid that people are unable to support their families.

If these claimants don’t take these jobs then they have their benefits reduced or taken off them altogether, and yet these jobs don’t pay enough to live. This is a contributing factor to the rise in the use of foodbanks that we are seeing, because people are not managing.

As is always the case with the Tories, it’s all smoke and mirrors.

Sally McCarthy

Ross-on-Wye