Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has backed the government's plans for a £26,000 benefits cap.

Writing in a national newspaper today, he argues the current welfare system is rewarding "fecklessness and irresponsibility".

Lord Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1991 and 2002, said the scale of Britain's public debt is the "greatest moral scandal" facing the country.

The government has said it will push on with its benefits plan despite suffering a defeat in the House of Lords.

Ministers want to cap welfare handouts at £500 a week for working-age families - equivalent to the average wage of £26,000 earned by working households - and £350 a week for single adults without children.

But peers have passed an amendment that calls for child benefits to be excluded from the calculation.

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