As an annual gathering of clergy from all over the country who meet to reflect on our experience of ministry, we were very impressed by your editorial (“End the war on welfare”, 29 April) as it chimed so strongly with our experience.
We could cite many examples of pastoral encounters with the “growing class of people in distress because they cannot make ends meet”, to which you refer. For instance, an octogenarian woman with a serious heart condition who was told she could only submit an application for rehousing online; a man with personality disorder “sanctioned” for lack of punctuality at meetings, but not in a way that would help him to understand his situation; a 60-year-old Polish rough sleeper, alone and with alcohol problems, who is deemed not to be a vulnerable adult; a pregnant asylum-seeker with a three-year-old child told to go to the Red Cross or a foodbank when informed of a two-week wait before any benefit would be paid.