No one emerges with any credit

IF THE UK Government weren’t being eaten alive by Brexit, Universal Credit would be doing the job instead.

The shambolic welfare policy is one of the most disastrous in British history.

Their flagship benefit reform has imposed unnecessary agony on hundreds of thousands of people.

Even the UN’s special rapporteur on poverty has branded the system “problematic”, “harsh” and “unnecessary”.

This newspaper has exposed how it has caused a surge in rent arrears, plunged children into poverty and forced desperate mums into prostitution.

This is heartbreaking – but in Austerity Britain, sadly not surprising.

Since the Tories got power back, they have dismantled the welfare state in an attack on the poor and vulnerable. Their pathetic excuse was that public finances demanded savings to the welfare bill.

So it is ironic Universal Credit is going to end up costing the taxpayer money.

The botched rollout has been delayed numerous times and Chancellor Philip Hammond had to pile in billions more in this month’s budget. And today the Record reveals councils are also having to fork out millions to keep a lid on the chaos.

When will the cloth-eared Tories accept it is time to pull the plug on this expensive misery machine?