The Archbishop of Westminster – who becomes a ­cardinal at a ceremony in Rome today – propelled himself on to centre stage in a national debate about welfare reform this week, causing a political storm and provoking the Prime Minister to respond. Cardinal-designate Vincent Nichols had declared, in The Daily Telegraph, that it was a “disgrace” that in a wealthy country poor people were being left with nothing to live on, as a punishment for such misdeeds as failing to fill in a form correctly. He said: “The basic safety net that was there to guarantee that people would not be left in hunger or in ­destitution has actually been torn apart.”The Government instantly dismissed his remarks as ill-informed, and in a more detailed response four days lat