Politicians call for £20 benefit rise to remain

AXING UNIVERSAL CREDIT UPLIFT ‘WILL HARM MANY FAMILIES’

LABOUR and Liberal Democrat politicians have condemned the government’s ending of the £20 universal credit increase, saying thousands of people in their areas will be hit hard.

Bob Boulton, who was elected chairman of Charnwood Constituency Labour Party in July, said the move – which stands to affect around 100,000 people in the Leicester and Leicestershire areas – would have a devastating impact.

He said: “We know average wages in Charnwood are below the national average and that this money is crucial to many people.

“Taking it away just at the point when families and individuals are getting back on their feet following the pandemic could see many fall into severe financial difficulties.

“Nationally, it is estimated it will push half a million people into poverty.

“At Charnwood Labour Party, we are campaigning strongly against this move because of the impact it will have on ordinary people and their lives, and are urging voters to write to their MP, Edward Argar, or the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to make their views known.

“To us, this is not a party political issue, but simply about making sure people in our area have sufficient resources to live their lives without fear of cold or hunger, especially with winter now on the way. Everyone should have that right.

“This will hit hard everyone from ordinary working families to carers through to those looking for a job.

Many people in Charnwood who will feel they have played their part during the pandemic are going to be affected.”

He said the universal credit cut would be affecting people at the same time as the newly-announced 1.25 per cent addition to National Insurance, which is paid by workers earning from £9,500 a year.

“Added together, these two measures will take a four-figure sum away from the annual income of many workers on low incomes,” he said.

“To us, this shows a lack of understanding of the financial pressures that ordinary people face on a day-to-day basis.”

Hinckley and Bosworth Liberal Democrat Michael Mullaney said up to 16 per cent of families across Bosworth Constituency face being left worse off when the governments end the uplift to universal credit.

He said figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimate that the universal credit cut alone could force 500,000 people – almost half of them children – into poverty.

An estimated 6,790 families in Hinckley and Bosworth will be harmed by the government’s uplift cut, with one in six families with children in Bosworth being affected adversely.

Councillor Mullaney, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman for Hinckley and Bosworth said: “Hinckley and Bosworth has had to pull itself through this pandemic while dealing with this incompetent, heartless Conservative government.

“This cut will do untold damage to so many of our families.

“There is no question government has to reverse this needless cut and support normal working people here.

“Hinckley and Bosworth Liberal Democrats are calling for the universal credit uplift to be made permanent.”

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This will hit hard everyone from working families to carers through to those looking for a job Bob Boulton