A positive case for collectively provided benefits | Letters

1943: British economist Sir William Beveridge delivering his report on social security which became the basis for the welfare state.The Guardian’s editorial (Mean and arbitrary: this is not the future Mrs May promised, 3 April) is right to point to the brutal cuts to benefits.Theresa May’s government is not enforcing policies driven by a desire to be spiteful or miserly to particular groups (although that is how it may seem).