So, you're saying that politicians don't actually care about us? They just want our money to spend on themselves and their own pet projects? I'm shocked at this revelation!

KR, Stockport,

Both my wife and I will pay more tax next year due to the removal of the 10% tax band. However, we will not face any stigma from having to live apply for benfits, as our incomes are far too high, namely approx £10,000 and £14,000 respectively.
I would like to know why the Chancellor feels it is right that those on low incomes like ours should pay more, whilst those on much higher incomes will pay less. Does this 'Labour' government only care for the well off?

Trevor Boning, Thirn, Ripon,

"But being expected to conserve and ring-fence the rent yourself has to be better than being babied by the pretence that your rent is not your business."

Brilliant plan. It'll help out loads of people.

What's the plan for the ones who spend the rent on beer and then get evicted? Because there will be some.

And, the worst is, a landlord can't easily tell which ones they are. So we're heading back to that era when landlords and agents had "no DSS renters" notices on the doors because they aren't going to take the risk.

So you'll end up with a bundle of people who ARE capable of ringfencing their rent, but can't persuade anyone to rent them a house because the others can't...

Katie, Cambridge, UK

And those people who are the most negative about people on benefits? the people I worked with who got up at 5am to do the early morning shift in the newsagents. Governments have no sense of history (which is ironic given the number of history graduates withint the civil service). Why did National Savings bank come into existence ? To assist the poorer elements in society to save. And what was the result? it was an ummitigated resounding success that stunned the government of the time. The people who are worst with money are those that didn't earn it - read government, banks, financial departments, a great swath of business, etc. I work in engineering and I find it slightly surreal how talk about spending £10K (which is peanuts in most companies) is such a non-event when it equals a living wage for so many. I have also become blase about it because it just doesn't connect. The poor are frequently careful with money and people, the rich normally just the former.

John, Knutsford, UK

As usual Libby Purves hits the nail on the head in her piece in today's comment pages. After nearly forty years in the Armed Forces I am existing on the pension supplied by a grateful nation. Statistically therefore, I am classed as the "Poor". As such I find it indefensible for a government to penalise me by removing the 10% tax band, thus endangering myself and tens of thousands of other ex servicemen (for example) to the risk of meekly having to visit the "Benefits office" with my "cap in hand" in order to maintain my present modest way of life. It is time a politician repeated the experiment of a few years back, when one tried to manage for a week on the income of the "feckless" poor. It opened his eyes. Perhaps Mr Darling should volunteer.

Michael Lansley, Dunfermline, Fife

Okay, let's see. Those on benefits should come off them.
So, I am on benefits because on my return toi this country after working abroad for 8 years I had very little income and a disabled wife.

I received pension credit in order to raise our income to a predetermined level set by the government.
ASlso, we recieved housing benefit and Council Tax relief. Eith this we managed.

I got a job, because I thought this was the rigfht thing to do, though I am 63.

As a result, I lose my Pension Credit, our houssing and Council tax benefit. Consequently, we are now worse off.

Sop, why bother to go to work at 10:00 pm 4 nights a week?

Pete Hodge, Skelmersadale,

This article hits the spot. The most popular tax measure for any government would be to make it top priority to raise the personal allowance each year so that fewer and fewer people pay tax. This would also reduce the 'black economy' and give more incentive to job seekers and people on incapacity benefit.
The other measure that would really help poorer people but will never happen is to have excellent, low cost (and -yes- probably subsidised) public transport, as in more egalitarian Europe.
Our MPs are far too distant from the populace (witness the recent 'expenses' outrages) to comprehend either measure.

Michael, Aston Clinton, England

I think Libby Purves almost gets there but at the last step pulls back fom the logical conclusion of Welfare Reform. Housing Benefit "a necessity" is part of the problem and not the solution. It's proped up property prices while those that claim it have no idea of it's worth; only the landlords getting rich on it understand that. Scrap the lot* and pay a flat rate (Welfare costs £140 billion) to all UK resident taxpayers (may be linked to I.D. cards if the Government can ever regain our trust again).
*There needs to be a safety net for the poor who need their lives run for them.

Haydn Evans, Worksop, England

My income (sole-earner, four person family), at less than 12k p.a., makes me 'poor' - yet we have no debt, don't smoke, drink only very occasionally, and have a jolly good life. You don't need pots of money, and not having it doesn't make you act stupid.

dominic, Teddington, UK,

The average wage is now £31000. So where are the poor? Just joking the Gov. tends to place too much faith in the result of "averages" and so the gap between rich and poor grows. We need a personal allowance of at least £15000. If you compare that to the average it doesn't look bad does it? A tax allowance of less than 50% of the average wage, surely that is fair. Unfortunatley you would remove some 60 to 70% of the population from paying taxes if that was the case!

John, London,

Churchill got it right-------
',..the problem with capitalism is that it creates unequal wealth.
The problem with socialism is that it creates shared misery.'.
How come the 'poor' in a place like Hong Kong seem to thrive without the heavy hand of the state ?? -you can't keep the 'poor' out of the place.

wilfred knight, orange county, usa california

How on earth do you know that the poor are "careful"

Another article patronising the poor by a middle class journalist.

Stephen Edwards, Wokingham, UK

Maybe "the poor" are actually a bunch of individuals, some of whom are poor through misfortune or ill health, some through their own poor financial skills. Who knows, they might actually be very different from each other. Maybe not all welfare officials think the same way either. In which case one solution would not fit all.

Paul T, Cardiff, Wales

Paying taxes is one thing, and cheated by is another thing, i.e.
when wife was at home raising family, i paid ful taxes, now my
wife is working and paying lot's of taxes, while due to health-
reason i am home, why can't i get the same treatment, tax-refund on my wife-as-i paid then???????????????????
Ken

Cllr Ken Tiwari(independent), Oxford, United Kingdom

I’ve gone through the experience described both in France and in the UK.
In France, humiliating interviews with stuck-up, Christian Dior clad social workers who assumed that I was a naughty naughty little girl who was pretending to be good while being real naughty at the time, and tried to extort a confession that I drank, used drugs, and had had premarital sex. Then: ‘you are not eligible to any benefits because your family are rich; go back and live with your mummy.
In the UK, on the occasion when I applied for JSA, the staff at the Jobcentre were stunned by my saving prowess, despite my salary of less than £200 a week.
People holding more than £16,000 in savings and investments are not eligible to either income-based JSA or to housing benefits: they are expected to run down their assets, and then apply for benefits! How do you get on the housing ladder without a deposit?
When I reach my 60’s, I expect the NHS will tell me I am not eligible to free treatment either.

Cecile, London,

Poor people may need welfare officials, but not as much as welfare officials need poor people.

It is against the interests of the welfare industry actually to help people to independence.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

Maybe if employers paid their workers enough to meet all of their basic living costs WITHOUT having to claim state benefits, there would be no need for the government to lower taxes to help families make ends meet. A suprising number of employers, including some big names in the City like Barclays and KPMG have been convinced by the business case for paying a living wage. If more would follow their lead, workers could go from being supplicants to citizens.

Deborah Littman, London, UK

I agree that there is no intrinsic reason why housing benefit tenants should be less capable of managing their finances. The problem for landlords is that because such tenants are on a low income, it takes just one unforeseen bill to throw finances into chaos.

One of our members had a great tenant who had an overdraft. When her HB was paid direct into her bank account the bank used it to pay off the overdraft and close down the facility. It was beyond her control and she was unable to pay the rent (using the money that the state had provided for that purpose).

Elizabeth Brogan, NLA, London, London

The assumption that Libby describes, that the poor must be feckless and financially irresponsible, is a necessary part of a larger deception. Namely, the widely-propagated myth that "you get what you deserve"; that hard work brings rewards; and that everyone who is rich got that way through sheer merit.

If there are millions of poor people who are careful with their money, morally upright, and hardworking, we might be forced to conclude that they are poor through no fault of their own. And that would never do; people might start thinking about the implications.

Tom Welsh, Basingstoke,

This isn't socialism at all - it's the reverse. Brown, Darling and the others take from the poor to give to their new gods, the management consultants. And they do it on purpose to make a mockery of the principles of organised Labour. The Labour Party has looked more and more like the pigs in "Animal Farm" since 1997. And for everyone with "aspirations" who got the scholarships, there are a hundred others of equal merit but with fewer connections who didn't, and gave up along the way. Our government, who got their own education and start in life for free, are now making everybody else pay. And patronising the poor into the bargain, having curtailed their chances drastically and then having the gall to tell them it's their fault. Both New Labour and the Tories can keep their neo-Victorian values and social Darwinism. We the people don't want any of that. It doesn't even work - but it does make their useless "management consultants" rich and influential.

Julia Iskandar, London, England

you're just stating the obvious so why be surprised? liberalism and socialism equals government knows best.

brian, Chichester, england

"The horrid truth is that the poor are preyed upon."

Bob T: Not to mention the fee paying cash machines that turn up in the mini marts with no free machines for miles (until you go into the more affluent areas).

The poor are an easy target as they have less geographical mobility in this respect.

Jamie, Halifax, West Yorkshire

This is an excellent article and explains the evils of socialism in a nutshell!

Sally Roberts, London, United Kingdom

"..........You are not in charge of your life and prosperity. We are. Trust us. Keep on voting for us or you're stuffed.”

This is what Gordon Brown is depending on.
More people need to see that he is only looking after himself/pals. He trots out figures which are lies but who can contradict him?

Janet Wood, Kirkby Stephen,

If you have retired, you cannot claim working tax benefit. If you have savings, you aren't eligible anyway for any benefits. So the abolition of the 10% band snatches money from the poor and responsible. Mr Brown does this in order to pose as a tax slasher, gleefully announcing his 2% cut at the end of his budget speech. He should be ashamed of himself.

Mike Evans, Midsomer Norton, UK

Life is more expensive for many poor. Mini-markets and local shops charge sometimes 40% more than supermarket prices. Low cost credit is only for the better off - the rest pay punitive interest rates on credit or store cards. Even old furniture that goes to the council dump in wealthier areas appears in second hand furniture shops in poor areas at outrageous prices. The horrid truth is that the poor are preyed upon.

Bob T., London, UK

I earn less than £8k a year, but the local council declared that I should pay them twice the council tax they required because my ex walked out on myself and the children after 23 years of marriage. He applied, retrospectively, to have his council tax refunded after 9 months, and they then refused to give me a discount on it because the house I was left with was larger than average. After 3 years of expensive divorce court we are trying to sell the house, but I still owe lots of council tax and payments on utilities that I can't afford. He pays no regular maintenance, despite court orders.

It's all well and good they have council tax bands, but if you truly don't earn the money, how can you hand it all back to the council, denying your children a basic standard of living?

J, Haslemere, Surrey

Whats new - the rich get richer and the poor get poorer in spirit as well as in their pocket !!!

Ian Payne, WALSALL,

Has this writer just touched down from Mars?
Generations of people have lost their feck as succesive governments have used them to manipulate facts and figures.
Idleness can be very seductive even without the rewards paid to MP's

D.Henry, Edinburgh, Scotland UK