Theresa May urged to listen to universal credit ‘horror stories’

An SNP MP has urged the Prime Minister to hear firsthand the “horrifying” stories of those struggling under the roll-out of universal credit in Scotland.

Drew Hendry said a pilot of the single monthly payment in his constituency of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey had been “nothing short of a disaster” and a “personal catastrophe” for many.

He has written to Theresa May to invite her to attend a summit in Inverness next month to hear from constituents directly affected by the 0 Drew Hendry says many constituents were suffering roll-out. Mr Hendry said these included a woman named Abbey whose payments were stopped when she went on maternity leave, leaving her owing £2,000 in rent arrears and surviving on food vouch- ers during the four months it took to fix the error.

Another constituent, a single mum-of-two with cancer named Leanne, waited six weeks for payment only for the amount to be more than £500 short.

“The DWP then demanded she attended a work capability assessment – against the advice of her furious GP,” the letter said.

Mr Hendry said more than 60 per cent of his constituent caseload was related to universal credit, with his office dealing with more than 200 cases.