In his landmark 1941 report that led to the formation of the welfare state in this country, William Beveridge called for a national insurance scheme that would provide benefits for the sick, unemployed and retired.
It specified a minimum standard 'below which no one should be allowed to fall.'
One shudders at what Mr Beveridge would think of what has become of this crucial, forward thinking safety net that he inspired and of the huge numbers of people being allowed to fall through it - sometimes never to return.
In setting out his proposals, which were adopted by the post-war Labour government, Beveridge was surely thinking of people just like Lee Tarpey from St Helens.
A working builder his whole life, Mr Tarpey was struck down by a sudden heart attack in 2015 which saw him fitted with three stents.
He had a number of contributing health factors including diabetes and angina and for the first time in his adult life found that he was unable to work.
Prior to this he had worked hard, put food on the table for his wife and three children and paid into a system that he hoped he would never need.
But when his health deteriorated, he did need that system - and like for so many people in modern Britain, it wasn't there for him.
One of the most frustrating ideas that seems to have seeped into common thinking in this country - thanks to the strategic efforts of recent governments and some organs of the press - is that the state is being drained by hoards of lazy, feckless, workshy scroungers.
In reality, it is pretty rare to find people or families who have never worked, but this has been a convenient theme for Conservative governments to stick to as they looked to slash welfare spending during the austerity assault.
I've been reporting on problems with welfare reform for many years now and can tell you that pretty much everyone I have spoken to who has been let down by the system has either been in work and had to stop on health grounds or are in work but desperate for help to top up their dwindling wages and keep their heads above water.
No one will forget the images of Liverpool man Stephen Smith, whose withering 6-stone frame was not enough to convince a welfare assessor that he was not unfit for work and in need of help - despite two GPs confirming that he could barely walk across his front room.
Stephen had also worked for most of his life but had reached a point where he needed help and spent two exhausting years fighting a system that sought to deprive him of that help - and degrade him along the way.
We all sadly know that the heroic efforts he went to to overturn that decision were too much for him - and Stephen died before he was given what he was owed by the Department of Work and Pensions.
Lee Tarpey was also about as far from a scrounger as you can get - in fact he probably put his health at more risk by trying several times to go back to work before reluctantly accepting this was not possible.
Having eventually been granted the small assistance of £300 a month, he was quickly reassessed and told he no longer qualified for this support.
A proud man, Lee's wife Kerrie said he was unlikely to have opened up about his problems at the short assessment that so quickly decided that he was not in need of help.
This was the same kind of cold, ruthless consultation that decided that Stephen Smith should have been able to pick his emaciated body up and find a job.
Kerrie Tarpey said that when the letter arrived to inform her husband that his support would be removed, he ripped it up - he didn't want her to see.
A month after the benefits were stopped, Lee took an overdose of his medication and died in his bed - despite the best efforts of paramedics, who worked on him for an hour.
In his pocket he had left a note for his wife, who he had loved since 1992, who he had raised three children with, which said he felt that without that vital support he would be a drain on her and his children - this was his worst nightmare.
That small amount of money would have allowed him to feel like he was supporting the family he loved - despite the health challenges he faced, it surely would have kept him going.
But when you have a welfare system purposefully designed to demean, degrade and dissuade people from seeking help - you will inevitably see people fall through the cracks.
For some, like Lee Tarpey, they will sadly never come back.
