England and Wales' leading Catholic says the British government's welfare policy is a "disgrace" for failing to protect people from hunger.
While recognising the Conservative-led coalition still needs to tighten spending six years after the start of the GFC, Archbishop Vincent Nichols has told The Daily Telegraph newspaper sections of Britain's society are faced with a "dramatic crisis".
"People do understand that we do need to tighten our belts and be much more responsible and careful in public expenditure," he said on Saturday.
"But I think what is happening is two things: one is that the basic safety net that was there to guarantee that people would not be left in hunger or in destitution has actually been torn apart.
"It no longer exists and that is a real, real dramatic crisis."
And Nichols added that administering social assistance had become "more and more punitive", leaving some people waiting two weeks for benefits.
"For a country of our affluence, that quite frankly is a disgrace," he told the paper.
The interview comes as Nichols prepares to officially become a cardinal next week.
He is one of 19 senior clerics chosen by Pope Francis to be elevated to the Roman Catholic clergy's second highest rank.
A spokesman at the Department for Work and Pensions said "it's wrong to talk of removing a safety net when we're spending STG94 billion ($A175.23 billion) a year on working age benefits and the welfare system supports millions of people who are on low incomes or unemployed so they can meet their basic needs".
The coalition led by Prime Minister David Cameron, which comprises also the Liberal Democrats, has slashed government spending since inheriting a huge deficit from the previous Labour administration in 2010.
