Why we must keep the £20 uplift in Universal Credit

THE £20 a week uplift to Universal Credit has kept many families out of poverty and away from the foodbank.

It has helped people to make ends meet through these difficult and unprecedented times.

The imminent cut of £1,000 a year to universal credit by the Conservatives will hit our least welloff families, and their children, the hardest.

Most people claiming universal credit only started claiming it during the pandemic, and this is a cut that will affect hundreds of working families in Wokingham. In Wokingham constituency there are 4,800 children who live in families where universal credit helps people stay afloat. In my ward, Norreys, over 700 people, and 250 children, rely on universal credit.

These numbers have more than doubled since the start of the pandemic.

Anti-poverty charities such as Wokingham Foodbank and Citizens Advice understandably have serious concerns about this cut, and a UN official has even said the “unconscionable” cut breaks humanrights law.

Low-income families in Wokingham are already struggling to afford essentials and keep their heads above water. They are struggling to afford food, struggling to afford school uniform or money for school trips. They face a tough winter ahead with energy bills soaring due to a failure of government planning, and food prices rising.

Again they will be forced to choose whether to ‘heat or eat’, and it is likely to push people further into debt.

They also face a double whammy from the government: not only a cut

to universal credit but also a national insurance tax rise. Workers deserve a pay rise, not a tax rise.

Many households who claim Universal Credit contain an adult who is working, because many jobs simply do not pay enough. It is shameful that the people who have carried us all through Covid-19, such as the key workers we clapped, are now paying for the pandemic.

Nurses who have cared for us so well during Covid-19 could lose £1,159 per year.

A teaching assistant who has helped to keep our children learning during the pandemic could lose

£1,040 per year.

There are many more examples. And yet the Conservatives have said they are “entirely happy” with this cut.

It’s simply not right and it must be scrapped.

Self-employed people have also been hammered by the Conservatives. The self-employed have already suffered huge reductions in their income during the pandemic, with many losing their livelihoods as a result of Covid-19.

They have benefited from the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor. This floor is used to work out the support they receive. It assumes self-employed people have managed to find a full week’s work.

The problem is that their actual hours may be much lower than this, meaning their support is reduced with no earnings income to replace it. The

Minimum Income Floor was rightly suspended during the pandemic, but it has been reinstated, hitting selfemployed people before they are back on their feet.

If the Conservatives want to help people in Wokingham and across the country recover from the pandemic, they must reverse these cuts to hard-working families’ incomes and help protect the 250 children in Norreys, thousands of children across Wokingham, and millions of children across the country who will be devastatingly affected by these cruel changes.

I’m deeply concerned about the impact on my residents, as all councillors should be.

I was dismayed to see that local Conservatives have adopted a “no comment” policy on this issue. I refuse to stay silent.

I will stand up for my residents and our community. That is why

I am petitioning our member of parliament, John Redwood MP, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP and the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson MP to cancel this cruel cut to universal credit and reverse the reinstatement of the Minimum Income Floor.

To sign the petition visit www. wokinghamlabourparty.org/universalcredit