Empathy deserves sympathy not mockery

While Iain Duncan Smith may have refused to participate in a "stunt", Helen Goodman (Labour MP for Bishop Auckland) had the guts to actually try living on an £18-a-week food bill to find out first-hand how tough it could be and how hard an impact the welfare and benefits cuts would have on some of her poorest and most needy constituents. Incredibly, many of the commenters on that article have responded by mocking her struggles, saying that surviving on that budget is easy, which is ridiculous - relative to the callous and arrogant insensitivity of most of her parliamentary colleagues, this display of basic human decency and compassion deserves credit, at least, if not actual praise.