Last Friday, in our London neighbourhood, a mum was struggling to get a child’s wheelchair over the entrance to a charity shop. A man and I helped her. The child was about six years old, blue eyed and smiley. The mother, let’s call her M, was around 30. Both were dressed in green tracksuits.

She knew who I was, having seen me on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine show. I said, “It must be hard with pavements in such bad condition.” She tearfully replied, “What’s really hard is being punished for looking after my little one.”

We went for coffee. M is among the millions of extraordinary people who give up jobs, freedoms, leisure and many other pleasures to care for vulnerable children, siblings, parents or grandparents they deeply love. Society and governments owe them big time.

Yet, in recent years, thousands of them have been criminalised for overpayments made by the Department of Work and Pensions. Yes, you read that right. The Government’s mistakes – but the severe retribution falls on recipients.

According to several reports in The Guardian, which has assiduously investigated this issue, most carers caught in this inescapable web are unaware that they are falling foul of “arcane” and “outdated” rules. They receive £81.50 in benefits per week, can earn up to £151........

© iNews