David Cameron says he is giving unemployed Britons “new hope and responsibility” by cutting their benefit payments and claims his welfare reforms are part of a “moral mission” for the country.

In an article for the Telegraph, the Prime Minister issues a sharp rebuke to Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, who said recent changes had left many in “hunger and destitution”.

Mr Cameron argues that the Archbishop of Westminster’s criticism is “simply not true” and says the overhaul of the benefits system, led by Iain Duncan Smith, himself a practising Catholic, was about “doing what is right” and not simply “making the numbers add up”.

His comments came as Archbishop Nichols, who will be made a Cardinal later this week, stepped up his warnings over implementation of welfare reforms.

Speaking as he set off for Rome to receive the honour from Pope Francis, he said he had been “inundated” with messages from people who shared his concerns.