NEWS STORY

Press Release: Tories must U-turn on Universal Credit cuts

Slashing £1,040 would push families into poverty

The SNP has said Rishi Sunak must U-turn on 'devastating' Tory plans to cut Universal Credit by £1040 from October - as six former Tory Work and Pensions Secretaries have come out against the plans today.

David Linden MP said it was essential the Chancellor completely scraps the planned cuts, warning the Tory government would "push millions of families into poverty and crisis" if they go ahead.

The SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson said household incomes have "already been hammered by a decade of Tory austerity cuts", and the UK government must focus on boosting incomes not slashing them.

A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), published in May, found the UK’s relative poverty rate among working households has already hit a record high this century of 17.4 per cent - with one in six working households now languishing in poverty.

Separately, the Children's Commissioner for Scotland has warned Tory plans to cut Universal Credit by £20 a week would be "catastrophic" for families and would: "effectively knock out the benefits that the Scottish Child Payment brings".

Earlier today, SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford MP called for the Chancellor to publish an impact assessment of the effect the planned Tory cuts to Universal Credit would have on household incomes and levels of poverty and inequality across the UK.

Commenting, SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson David Linden MP said:

"Tory plans to cut Universal Credit payments by £1040 would be devastating for millions of families, many of whom are already struggling to get by.

"There must be an urgent U-turn on these damaging plans, which would push families further into poverty and crisis at the worst possible time.

"Household incomes have already been hammered by a decade of Tory austerity cuts, with in-work poverty rising to record levels on Boris Johnson’s watch.

"While the SNP government is putting money in people's pockets, with progressive policies like the Scottish Child Payment, the Tories are taking it away again with regressive cuts that threaten to wipe away the progress we are making in tackling poverty.

"Scotland is increasingly vulnerable under Westminster control. Ultimately, the only way to keep Scotland safe from the long-term damage of Tory cuts is to become an independent country, with the full powers needed to build a strong, fair and equal recovery and eradicate poverty."


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