However, Mr Osborne’s determination to cut the link between benefits and inflation is not just driven by a need to reduce the deficit. It also allows him to dig yet deeper the grave in which he seems determined to bury the core principle of the welfare state, namely universalism. Universalism acknowledges that at different times in our life cycle most of us may experience a period of vulnerability – illness, disability, unemployment. Social insurance and pooling resources means that we can all draw on the “welfare pot” not just to “proof” ourselves against risk but also as part of building a fair and decent society.