Hard-working families will no doubt be shocked by today’s revelations that some households on benefits in the Bradford district were being paid well above the average annual salary.

Many people who go to work day in, day out still have to scrimp and save to make ends meet and it is understandable that they would feel dismayed at the thought of families being given the same or even much more money in benefits without lifting a finger.

But now hundreds of those families on benefits are finding that their income is drastically reduced thanks to the Government’s benefit cap which limits how much money households can claim.

This might go some way to giving those who do an honest day’s work some measure of satisfaction that they are not simply wasting their time by going out to their jobs every day.

However, care must be taken not to demonise those on benefits nor swing the axe too harshly against claimaints. We have a welfare system in this country to provide for those who simply cannot find any other way to achieve a basic standard of living, whether through economic constraints on finding work or because they are in ill health.

All those who are fully entitled to benefits for genuine reasons of hardship should be able to access them. But it is quite right that those individuals who are quite capable of finding work and supporting their families should be given every incentive to do so.

If that means making working for a living paying more than living on benefits, then that is the right thing to do.