SIR – Call me naive if you will but it was only recently that I discovered that even those on relatively high incomes are allowed to remain tenants of social housing, even when they also own property.

Why is it apparently so difficult for the Government to cut winter fuel payments, bus passes and even state pensions to all but those pensioners who qualify for pensioner credit? Why is there any reticence whatsoever in withdrawing the rights of those families with incomes in excess of £50,000, £60,000 or £100,000 to child benefit?

This is not only about the clear injustice evident in the children of the wealthy attending expensive private schools while remaining eligible for state benefits, but about the extent to which the current iniquitous and costly system is contributing to the maintenance of the sizeable income gap.

WILL RICHARDS
Malvern