The debate over welfare reform last week moved from farce to tragedy and back again, still leaving most of the country bemused as to what the real facts are about.

The publication last Friday of a report into the impact of Bulgarians and Rumanians on local public services, which might have unleashed another torrent of headlines about scroungers, turned out to be well-researched analysis which found little evidence that next year will bring a new wave of overseas benefit recipients.