£20 /week cut to Universal Credit

Not feeling well today but just have to say it’s a disgrace and to think he is willing to waste vast amounts on his vanity projects.

To be fair it was made very clear at the start that this was only going to be a temporary measure.

He did say that but why can't he change his mind? £20 per week is not a lot of money but it would mean a great deal to those who have been given it, to have it taken away. Shocking.

Do you remember the tv programmes where a politician or a journalist lived for a week on the average benefit and couldn't do it? I think that Johnson and his cabinet should be forced to do that and then they might realise what it's actually like.

Many years ago a client of the firm where I worked was investigated by the Inland Revenue who would not believe that this person lived on such a low income. We provided a list of the client's weekly shopping and other expenses for the Inspector who was involved, The amount our client lived on was the equivalent of unemployment benefit.

Yes it was Sarnia

They are busy softening the public up with -shock, horror at the amount of debt we have accumulated since Johnson took office, so that they are able to reintroduce a form of austerity in the autumn.

The donkeys will nod along.

As always, they give millions to their mates and take the widow's mite away. B*****ds.

They can afford £200 million for a new Royal yacht though...

Sarnia

To be fair it was made very clear at the start that this was only going to be a temporary measure.

Yes, it was made very clear.
To say it’s a cut isn’t really accurate, it was given as an add on to get through the main pandemic year.

Dinah £20 a week for a year may not be a lot if it was for one person. Just work it out for the year for the very many it has been given to and what that would cost the nation ( it’s tax payers money not the government’s.)
That’s why furlough has to end in Autumn too.

As is always the case - the poor get poorer. This Government are appalling and I can’t understand why more people aren’t writing to their MPs etc. And yes, I have written to my MP on several occasions. Quite honestly, Brexit is the source of most of this country’s angst, exacerbated by Covid. What a sorry state of affairs.

It has nothing to do with Brexit.

lemongrove

Dinah £20 a week for a year may not be a lot if it was for one person. Just work it out for the year for the very many it has been given to and what that would cost the nation ( it’s tax payers money not the government’s.)
That’s why furlough has to end in Autumn too.

If we're doing sums, let's work out how much was paid for the deeply flawed track and trace, the initial ventilator contracts, the PPE contracts that 1st didn't deliver and that then delivered substandard products, the mates of the govt who swiftly got into the mandatory Covid testing for travellers lark, many of which don't provide ANY service and have to be backed up by NHS testing.

If they stopped troughing our taxes away in tax havens, we could afford to pay the most vulnerable in our society a little extra. Let's face it, they'll still be below the poverty line even with it.

There's a good case for furlough ending. There will also be defaults on the govt backed business loans. Reading comments from a number of accountants in the specialist forums it seems that a number of their clients have taken the loans and not used them directly for their business, possibly hoping to be able to pay the loans off, but maybe not. Actually, they may get caught out because they may have to pay PAYE on withdrawals from the current or capital accounts.

Some of the self employed have done quite well during the lockdowns because of people being stuck home and spending more time on line shopping than previously. That has happened to some of my clients who make and sell pottery and the like and also printmakers. Others have had no money at all. The clients that have done well are not claiming the 4th and 5th SEISS grants. In any any event are looking at more recent turnover figures as part of the review of claims made.

However, the basic UC was already low and to cut it back to that is mean and spiteful on the part of the govt. I certainly would not be opposed to an increase in Corporation Tax, which my company pays if it means that poorer people could keep their additional £20 per week.

The cut back will result in more people using food banks which rely upon the generosity of the public.

Eventually you always run out when spending others people's money. Labour have never understood this statement and now sadly this conservative government doesn't either.

If a government is going to spend taxpayers' money, which all governments must do, is it not better to help the people that need help rather than use taxpayers money to line the pockets of their chums and party donors?

love0c

Eventually you always run out when spending others people's money. Labour have never understood this statement and now sadly this conservative government doesn't either.

I don't understand how you can say that it's other peoples' money. We pay our taxes in order that roads are built, libraries are kept open and to support people in need.

As has been posted on here many times, governments since that of George 1 have borrowed money - originally t finance wars. That money has been paid and more has been borrowed. In the 20th C the govt issued War bonds which were eventually paid back. Provided that there is a decent rate of return Govt loan stock is a good investment - hence the term gilt edged.

"Do you remember the tv programmes where a politician or a journalist lived for a week on the average benefit and couldn't do it? I think that Johnson and his cabinet should be forced to do that and then they might realise what it's actually like."

The problem with this is that it gives the politician a skewed view of the difficulty of existing on benefits.

Anyone could live for a week on the benefit amount. And probably live quite well. But it's when you're facing the bigger winter energy bills, or the kids need new shoes, or your cooker breaks down, etc etc etc. that the problems come.

When they're showcasing how easy it is to live on benefits, they never have to take into account the juggling and the prioritising and the budgeting ahead. Or being on zero hours contracts and not getting work one week, and the chaos that causes with claiming a benefit for that one week. That's when it becomes really difficult.

I believe that all politicians should be made to exist for three months - and winter months at that - on benefits, so they get a real feel for the issues and problems.

(sorry that's a bit off topic, but couldn't not respond )

people with severe learning disabilities who live in supported living have to claim it too ffs because of how shit and complicated the uk welfare system is

£20 per week can make a huge difference to families living below the level of the minimum income needed to survive in this country.

How much difference have the millions and billions siphoned off to Tory party donors made to their already bloated standard of living?

Most politicians from every party are in politics to line their own pockets in one way or another. Very few are in politics for the benefit of the people who they supposedly are meant to represent and serve.

Please do not judge all politicians by the standards. or lack of standards of the utterly corrupt Conservative Party

Dinahmo O course it is other people's money. It is yours and mine and every tax payer. It is not the government's own money is it. If it was their own personal money they would be far more responsible on how they spend it!!

HurdyGurdy I did write that the politicians couldn't manage to exist for week so it didn't really give them a skewed view. Also surely our politicians should be capable of realsing that rent etc has to be paid.

love0c

Dinahmo O course it is other people's money. It is yours and mine and every tax payer. It is not the government's own money is it. If it was their own personal money they would be far more responsible on how they spend it!!

It is almost impossible not to pay some form of tax in the UK, so it's money which belongs to every single person. Most people claiming Universal Credit have had paid work at some point in their lives, so they've paid for their benefits too. The idea that one group (the taxpayers) pays and another group (benefit recipients) receives, is nonsense. It really isn't that clear cut.

The issue is whether people are happy that one group of people should have to survive on £75 per week.