Benefit payments will reach their lowest level in 40 years if the government does not raise benefits in line with inflation, MPs were warned today.
Liz Truss faces a growing split within her party as she weighs up raising payments by 5.4% - a move which critics say is "morally indefensible".
If it does so, it will amount to a massive real-terms fall in income for some of the UK's most pressed families, with inflation currently at 9.9%.
