George Osborne 'playing politics' with Philpott deaths

A coalition rift was blown into the open when the Liberal Democrats condemned George Osborne for "playing politics" with the deaths of six children after the chancellor highlighted the Mick Philpott case to raise questions about high welfare payments.

Amid deep unease among senior Lib Dems – up to and including Nick Clegg – over the Conservatives' use of the deaths of six children to make the case for controversial welfare reforms, the party went out of its way to distance itself from the chancellor's remarks.

Don't get mad about the Mail's use of the Philpotts to tarnish the poor – get even

The Daily Mail reminds me a little bit of climate change: you think you've got the measure of just how bad it is, but every time you look it's taken another appalling leap forward. Yesterday, following the conviction of the Philpotts for the manslaughter of their six children, it called Mick Philpott the "vile product of welfare UK". The cynicism, the lack of respect for the dead, the dehumanising terminology (he "bred" the children, it says); the front page alone told us all we need to know.