Unlike many other countries, Britain has an honourable tradition of providing low-cost public housing in its inner cities. But this enlightened approach is now threatened by the coalition's draconian, politically motivated housing benefit cap. In London, where rents are significantly higher than in the rest of the country, the £400-a-week cap will force as many as 82,000 families out of the capital - the largest population movement since the Second World War. Like Paris, London will become a wealthy enclave, with the poor consigned to the decaying suburbs.

While one Tory minister favourably compared the policy to the Highland clearances, charities warn that population churn is strongly related to negative health and social outcomes - a point echoed by Jon Cruddas on page 16. Education suffers, crime rises as established neighbourhoods are broken up, social mobility declines and working claimants are forced to leave their jobs. At the very least, transitional arrangements - in the form of an extended time frame or a higher cap - must be made for London. A government ostensibly committed to fairness should think again before targeting some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities.