Tory austerian-in-chief George Osborne and his imitators have a lot to answer for. But Mr Matejic’s chastening observation is also directly relevant to today’s political debates. Much of the Westminster bubble appears to be in thrall to the notion that Britain’s welfare budget must be cut substantially in the age of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in order that the nation’s resources can be diverted towards security spending. As this report starkly underlines, millions of the poorest people in the country – many of them in work – would not be in any position to weather such a storm. They are already being forced to go without food, deep in debt and unable to pay their bills.