Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Universal discredit
Humiliated Mcvey forced to apologise for misleading MPS over welfare report
CABINET minister Esther Mcvey has made a humiliating apology for misleading the Commons over the controversial Universal Credit.
There were calls for the Work and Pensions Secretary to quit after her climbdown on the benefits shake-up.
Labour has demanded a probe into whether the Tory “knowingly” misled MPS, thereby breaking the Ministerial Code.
The row erupted over Ms Mcvey rejecting National Audit Office findings that said the six-inone benefit is poor value for money and forcing people to foodbanks.
She claimed the damning report was out of date. But in an unprecedented open letter, NAO chief Sir Amyas Morse said there was “no evidence” of this.
He also accused Ms Mcvey of misrepresenting the findings and contradicting her own officials, who had “fully agreed” to the report.
Sir Amyas branded her behaviour “odd”, adding her claim that Universal Credit is working “has not been proven”.
Amid shouts of “resign”, Ms Mcvey said sorry in Parliament yesterday.
But her apology only extended to one of three “unproven” statements highlighted by Sir Amyas. She told MPS: “I mistakenly said the NAO asked for the rollout of Universal Credit to continue at a faster rate and be speeded up.
“In fact the NAO did not say that and I want to apologise... for inadvertently misleading you.”
Theresa May ducked questions over whether Ms Mcvey would resign. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Margaret Greenwood said: “If she didn’t read [the report] properly, that’s incompetence. If she did read it properly and knowingly misled Parliament, she should resign.”
Lib Dem Stephen Lloyd said: “Esther Mcvey’s contempt for inconvenient facts and independent, reputable bodies such as the NAO shows she is unfit for office.”
Labour’s Frank Field said: “I’ve never seen a letter from the National Audit Office like this before in the 40 years I’ve been in Parliament.”
The report last month found that from January to October 2017, 40% of claimants affected by late payments had to wait for 11 weeks or more.
Ms Mcvey’s contempt for facts shows she is unfit for office STEPHEN LLOYD LETS FLY AT GOVERNMENT MINISTER