MP urges Govt to scrap ‘out of touch’ plan to cut £20 from Universal Credit

‘THIS CUT WOULD BE UNFORGIVABLE’: Karl Turner MP

City MP Karl Turner has written to Minsters urging them to abandon plans to cut £20 a week from Universal Credit payments.

Mr Turner said such a cut would be “unforgivable”, and that the number of claimants in his East Hull constituency had almost doubled since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Labour MP said analysis by Citizens’ Advice showed that more than 2.3 million people in the UK could be forced into debt if the cut goes ahead.

In a letter sent today to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Work & Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey, Mr Turner warned of families being forced to make “terrible choices” between “clothing, heating, and food on the table”.

He said: “The extra £20 a week has been an absolute lifeline to so many in East Hull and across the country, but the Tories are dead set on snatching it away. It’s unforgivable.

“Some of the very workers who have seen us through the Covid crisis are set to be made £1,000 a year worse off. The decision is completely out of touch and must be cancelled for the sake of working families and our economy.”

Labour will attempt to force a vote in Parliament tomorrow, with the planned cut facing widespread opposition, including from former Conservative Work & Pensions secretaries, trades unions, and footballer Marcus Rashford.

In his letter, Mr Turner writes: “The prospect of the biggest overnight cut to social security since the Second World War is a terrifying one for many people in East Hull, where over 11,000 people are currently in receipt of Universal Credit payments.

“As you should be aware, surviving on Universal Credit is incredibly hard, even with the uplift implemented in 2020. Recipients simply cannot afford the removal of £20 per week, which will force families into terrible choices between clothing, heating, and food on the table.”

Urging the Government to reconsider, he adds: “As our city, the fourth most deprived local authority area in the country, begins to recover from the impact of Coronavirus, we have cause to be optimistic for the future of our local economy.

“But that will be dashed, if, as we take one step forward, we are forced to take two steps back by this short-sighted and misguided cut.”

Opponents of the cut also include Liberal Democrats in Hull, who point to a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which says the cut could could force 500,000 people - half of them children - into poverty.

Councillor Jackie Dad, deputy leader of the Lib Dem group on Hull City Council, said: “Hull 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 local families.

”There is no question that Government has to reverse this needless cut and support normal working people here. Hull Liberal Democrats are calling for the Universal Credit uplift to be made permanent.”

The cut is due to be made in October.