Unfair Universal Credit could end
LABOUR will today open the door to totally scrapping the Tories’ hated Universal Credit benefit reform.
Benefits chief Margaret Greenwood refused to rule out such a dramatic move after flaws in the new system forced thousands of desperate families to use foodbanks.
At the Labour conference in Liverpool today she will launch a year-long review into the “toxic” benefits system. Party policy is to “pause and fix” Universal Credit but Ms Greenwood told the Mirror: “We’re not ruling anything out.” She is also vowing to:
■ End the benefit freeze by raising rates in line with inflation.
■ Stop “sanctioning” people who simply turn up late at the Jobcentre.
■ Look at ending the use of private firms to carry out disability benefit tests.
Mr Greenwood said Tory ministers had vilified claimants and used “punishment for punishment’s sake”.
“We will absolutely stop the punitive sanctions regime,” she declared. “At the moment someone can be sanctioned for being late for a Jobcentre interview, missing the bus, and lose a month’s money.”