SIR – Is it possible for the T&A to find out, not which planet the welfare minister Ian Duncan Smith is living on, but in which country he is living, saying he could live on £53 a week?

My young unemployed neighbour cannot live on £72 per week benefit. Looking for work costs £24 – that is six Day Rover bus tickets; £5 per week for posting some CVs; £7 per week laundry bill; £7 cinema ticket once a week, to keep out of the cold, leaving approximately £4 per day for food.

In the Democratic Republic of Conga in Africa, Smith would live like a king on £53 per week. But will he go there to find out?

A Holdsworth, Sandside Close, Parkway, Bradford