Universal credit: Labour presses PM for action ahead of benefit vote

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]]> Boris Johnson has been urged to give millions of families a “helping hand” ahead of a Commons vote on extending benefit increases worth £20 a week.

Labour will use a debate on Monday to ramp up the pressure on the government to keep the universal credit uplift, worth £1,000 a year, beyond 31 March.

Sir Keir Starmer said families “needed certainty” incomes would be protected.

Tory MPs will abstain, meaning the non-binding motion will pass but ministers have not committed to implementing it.

Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi said the chancellor would set out the “additional help he will provide families” at the Budget on 3 March.

He added that the government had so far made £280bn available to the most vulnerable families.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey met the prime minister on Friday to discuss universal credit. It’s understood the meeting had been planned long before Labour’s Commons debate was announced.

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Charities and anti-poverty campaigners are pleading with the government to keep the support in place, describing it as a lifeline for the more than 5.5 million families who receive the standard universal credit allowance.

Food poverty campaigner and chef Jack Monroe told the BBC that the £20 increase “has been a lifeline” for millions of people who have needed to top up their income or rely on universal credit payments in order to get by.

“£20 can be the difference between being able to pay gas and electric bills, or buy healthier food options, or not,” she said.

Labour’s motion calls for this and the £20 weekly increase in working tax credit (which is being gradually replaced by universal credit), also put in place at the beginning of the pandemic, to be extended indefinitely beyond 31 March.

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]]> ‘£1,000 shortfall’

Sir Keir said it was a vital safety net for those who had lost their jobs, seen their working hours slashed or who were not eligible for the government’s wage subsidy furlough scheme.

“Without action from government, millions of families face a £1,000 per year shortfall in the midst of a historic crisis,” he said.

“If we don’t give a helping hand to families through this pandemic, then we are going to slow our economic recovery as we come out it.

“We urge Boris Johnson to change course and give families certainty today that their incomes will be protected.”

Speaking to ITV’s Lorraine programme, Sir Keir blamed “tribal politics” for why Conservative MPs wouldn’t support the call to keep the universal credit increase. He said he thought many Conservative MPs “in their heart of hearts know cutting this money, in middle of pandemic, is the wrong thing to do.”

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A very emotive issue

Analysis by chief political correspondent Adam Fleming

£6bn of the benefits bill. The difference between poverty or not for 1.2 million families, according to a think tank.

The £1,040 a year increase to universal credit is a very emotive issue.

There’s even a battle over what to call it.

To the government, its introduction was a one-off boost to cope with a crisis. For Labour, taking it away is a cut.

Ministers would prefer we looked at the overall level of support they’ve provided for workers and businesses during the pandemic. The opposition say the £20 a week boost is a powerful symbol of the state’s willingness to help.

Even the act of debating it today is disputed. Labour say they’ve got the right occasionally to set the agenda in Parliament. Boris Johnson said his MPs risk abuse from campaigners and protestors if they engage.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has suggested about 16 million people will be directly affected if the £20 is rolled back.

It says 500,000 more people will be driven into poverty, including 200,000 children, while a further 500,000 of those already in poverty will find themselves in even worse hardship.

However, the Institute for Economic Affairs think tank has argued that “across-the-board benefit increases are a wasteful use of taxpayers’ money” at a time when the government is borrowing “a hair-raising amount of money”.

What is universal credit?

Universal credit is a single payment replacing old benefits such as housing benefit and child tax credits.

You can claim universal credit if you are on a low income or are out of work.

The standard allowance varies from around £340 to just under £600, depending on your age or whether you are single.

You may be eligible to receive more money on top of the standard allowance if, for example, you have children or a health condition.

Labour’s motion is likely to pass after Conservative MPs were told to abstain, amid fears that some – including those elected in “Blue Wall” seats in northern England last year – may defy the whip and vote against the government.

Speaking on behalf of the Northern Research Group, Conservative MP John Stevenson said the £1,000 increase had been “a real life-saver for people throughout this pandemic”.

“To end it now would be devastating for the 6 million individuals and families who are already struggling to stay afloat,” he added.

‘Political’

While the vote is not binding, and will not lead to a change in policy, it will increase pressure on the government to keep the increase or come up with an alternative.

Labour said the Conservatives’ decision to abstain created “unnecessary uncertainty” but Mr Zahawi described the vote as “a political stunt”.

On Monday afternoon, MPs will also vote on a Labour motion saying that while schools are closed, families eligible for free school meals should be guaranteed to receive the full value “for the duration of the school year, including during all holidays”.

The government says it has strengthened the welfare system with an extra £7bn of funding during the pandemic while families struggling with food and household bills can get help through the £170m Winter Grant Scheme.

Ministers also point to extra support for housing costs, through an increase in local housing allowance for those on housing benefits and hardship payments worth £670m next year for those unable to pay their council tax bills.

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