Universal Credits- a new nightmare

Tories will continue the roll-out because it harms the poor.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/chaotic-roll-out-universal-credit-11315890

Over half of Londoners living in poverty are in working families.
20 years ago it was only 28%.
Is that the Tories running a country for all?
Is that work showing the way out of poverty?

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/09/more-than-half-of-londoners-in-poverty-are-in-working-families

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dwp-disabled-people-benefits-legal-action-lose-government-work-pensions-department-frank-field-mp-a7886166.html

So what they appear to be saying is that many of those in low income households did change their minds between the referendum and the election, I think.
Very admirable and sensible.

I think, Petra, it would be difficult to take the bias of the information you lifted from the reports seriously so it's probably better to read the Key Findings.

Sorry - I managed to put the document reference in the middle!

Preferring the key findings from the full report I thought I would copy them here:

1. People on low incomes are still more likely to vote for the Labour party than for the Conservative party: 42% of them voted for Labour, compared to 37% who voted for the Conservatives. But both parties increased their support among low income voters compared to 2015 (by about eight percentage points each), although neither party made a dramatic breakthrough at the expense of the other. By contrast, high income voters remained much more likely to vote Conservative than Labour: 53% compared to 24%.

2. While the Conservative Party’s hard vision of Brexit attracted some low income voters, Labour’s radical left-wing anti-austerity vision attracted them much more. To have the best of both worlds people on low incomes would probably favour a party that offered them both redistribution and control of immigration, but given the choice at the 2017 election their preference for redistribution outweighed their preference for immigration control. Other things being equal, support for Labour among people on low incomes with left-wing economic views was 66% compared to just 23% for the Conservatives – handing Labour a lead of over 40 percentage points. By contrast, support for Labour among people on low incomes but who are pro-Brexit was 32% compared to 54% for the Conservatives – a Conservative lead of 22 percentage points.

3. Some of the most substantial advances by the Conservative Party came in struggling non-metropolitan, pro-Brexit and Labour-held areas but the Conservative Party did not make sufficient progress in these areas to push seats from the red into the blue column. Of an estimated 140 Labour seats in England that had given majority support to Brexit the average Conservative vote increased by 8.3 percentage points, compared to an average of 4.6 points across England as a whole. Yet Labour contained this advance, even capturing more than a dozen seats from the Conservatives that are estimated to have voted for Brexit.

4. People who thought that their household’s financial situation had got worse during the year before the election were considerably more likely to back Labour than the Conservatives (48% vs. 27%). In contrast, those who thought that their financial situation had got better – of which there were relatively few (just 13% thought this) - were more likely to vote Conservative than Labour (52% vs. 29%). With inflation rising, wages stagnant and low rates of growth this is an ominous finding for the Conservative Party.

5. People’s political preferences are not only shaped by their own personal financial circumstances, but also by the surrounding conditions of the communities in which they live. The effect on the likelihood of voting Conservative of living in an area with a high or low proportion of people at risk of working age poverty was similar in scale to the effect of having a high or low income personally. These sharp differences will continue to impact upon British politics.

From the Joseph Rowntree Trust Report on The UK 2017 General Election examined: income, poverty and Brexit
by Matthew Goodwin and Oliver Heath
Overall, our findings suggest that while many voters on low incomes agreed with the vote for Brexit, and still favour reductions in immigration, at the 2017 election they were relatively more likely to vote for Labour because of their desire for improved living standards and to oppose austerity. This suggests that Labour’s pitch to low income voters and those in poverty was a key driver of its unexpectedly strong performance at the 2017 election. It also suggests, more generally, that the main parties should take more notice of the economic concerns of these voters and keep them as much on the centre stage of British politics as possible.

durhamjen
Your well versed in the derogatory language department yourself.
You have probably chosen to forget that cindersdad used the word imbecile, but you did reply that it was better than moron.
I think you get my point.

Who despises them?
Just because I think they were wrong doesn't mean I despise them.
You have a strange choice of words, petra. You seem to use very derogatory vocabulary. I know many people who are unemployed and in low skilled occupations. I don't look down on them like you seem to do.
The only name I use it Brexiteers, which I think they chose for themselves.

I don't despise leavers. There were many reasons why they voted to quit the EU as has been discussed on various forums here.
But I feel they were misled by the promises of the Leave campaign.

From JRT.
The poorest households with incomes of less than £20,000 per year were much more likely to support leaving the eu than the wealthiest households, as were the unemployed, people in low skilled manual occupations
People who feel their financial situation has worsened, and those with no qualifications.

Oh the irony, all the people you are fighting for are the very people you despise because they voted to leave the eu. Would you call these people all the names you have called posters here who voted leave.
What's even worse, most of you won't/ can't see your double standards.

Or even a country that works for all.

Whatever happened to Theresa May's much publicised concern for the " Just About Managing"?

Empty words.

“Today’s report reveals the pressures faced by families on low incomes. Rising inflation, combined with a 0.5% fall in real earnings and a freeze on working age benefits, means that tough times are set to get even tougher. The Budget later this year will be a key test of the government's commitment to helping families who are just managing, and those who are barely managing at all. By ending the freeze on working age benefits and reversing the two child limit on Universal Credit the Government can give low income families much-needed respite from the strain on their living standards.”

I think the only way this will happen is with a change of government.

I agree, mostlyharmless. I have taught people who couldn't get on the right bus because they could not read the name or the number. How could they use this system?

The system is designed to save money by only paying out once a month. However, most people who are in the system have less than £10,000 a year and are used to being paid weekly. To heck with them, then. They don't deserve any help, do they?

UK 2017 General Election vote examined: income, poverty and Brexit

I wasn't sure if this was the right thread to put it on but as it is related to poverty I thought here might be the best place.

mostlyharmless, thanks for your comments about people who can't read. My career in various branches of social work led me to come into contact with many people who had very low IQ, some of whom would have been incarcerated in huge institutions before care in the community. My experience was that often times, there would be a 'friendly' neighbour who would help with forms, for a small fee. Exploitation, yes.

People are also more likely to be dependent on mobile than land lines. I held on for a public body over 5 minutes the other day, before giving up and phoning later. How can anyone on a very limited income cope with that/. How can anyone who has poor literacy and numeracy skills complete those dreadful long forms necessary to communicate with any government body these days.

It's beyond sad, disgraceful and shameful.

Life is not easy for these vulnerable groups of people (insecure jobs, single parents, sick or disabled, learning disabilities) at the best of times.
How can they be expected to cope with this awful, bureaucratic system that causes them to wait so long for benefits and go into debt?
I've worked, on a voluntary basis, with people who can't read. There is no way they could cope with an online system. None of them were computer literate and, even if they had been, they would not have had access to efficient wifi.
I've also seen how stressed vulnerable people get if things they rely on are changed. I've seen people stressed to the point of collapse by the demands of an inflexible benefit system and that was before Universal Credit.

Doesn't help the woman living by candlelight.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/problems-universal-credit

There are some harrowing stories on the bottom of this article, too.

mines as a general rule the posters you refer to never ever ever criticise Conservative policies because they are always always beyond reproach and perfect. All the problems in the world are the fault of Jeremy, John, Momentum, Corbynistas/Corbynite ( I don't know the difference either) Communists, Marxists and Trots oh and Jeremy. As for UC, it's a well known fact that all people on benefits are scoungers/lazy/ play the system/ should get a job/ aren't looking hard enough/ don't take personal responsibility. Does that help?

I haven't read all this thread, so could be mistaken, but the conservative supporting GNers are conspicuous by their absence. What are their thoughts on UC?

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/the-worst-thing-constant-cold-11303050

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ex-pm-john-major-branded-11307118

How long have people been complaining about universal credit?
Why has John Major taken until now to voice his opinion of it and ask for a rethink?
Could it be because his party is under threat?

thepoorsideoflife.wordpress.com/

A list of jobcentres to be closed down, as well as people who have suffered through sanctions.

Gauke admits that benefit sanctions can harm people.

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/tory-conference-gauke-admits-sanctions-can-harm-mental-health-claimants/

Not going to do anything about it.