Jobseekers in UK forced to use food banks following benefit cuts

Britain’s Prime Minister has hit back over criticism of the Government’s welfare changes, saying they are part of his “moral mission” for the country.

Mr Cameron’s comments were made after the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales said the new system had left some people in “hunger and destitution” and labelled the situation “a disgrace”.

But the Prime Minister said the Archbishop of Westminster’s criticisms were “simply not true”.

He said the new system – which includes measures like the so-called “bedroom tax” – still leaves the welfare “safety net” in place.

The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, said last week that while reforms may be needed they had “unintended consequences”, such as families being forced to go to food banks.

He said clergy and charities were reporting a dire situation in some areas.

The archbishop told the Telegraph newspaper, that his concern “is to echo the voices that come to me of the circumstances today in which people are left without support for weeks on end, are hungry, are destitute.

“There must be something wrong with the administration of a system which has that effect on some many people’s lives.”

Mr Cameron said he respected the archbishop’s opinion but disagreed “deeply” with his view of the situation.