The benefits system was brought in to help those in need to reach a basic level of living. Quite rightly, it ended poverty for those people who, for whatever reason, found themselves at the lower end of the economic pile. It was a safety net.

Over the last 15 years, for purely political reasons, it has been made into a trawl net. A system that pays working credits to a family that has an income of £50,000-plus is a system that has been taken over by Government to promote a culture of state dependence. Hopefully the new coalition will end this giveaway mentality, while encouraging more independent self-reliance, without forgetting the genuinely needy. Pride in taking responsibility for looking after one’s own should be encouraged.

Geoff Robb, Hunters Close, Dunnington, York.