POLITICIANS from across the political spectrum yesterday voted to cancel the upcoming cut to Universal Credit (UC) – but Boris Johnson’s Tories plan to plough ahead regardless.
The opposition day motion calling for the UC cuts to be reversed passed by 253 votes to 0, with MPs from Labour, the SNP, Alba, the LibDems, Plaid Cymru, the DUP, the Greens, and even the Tory party in support.
However, the Government and the vast majority of Tory MPs, including all six Scottish Tories, declined to vote in the non-binding motion.
The debate saw former work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb insist that the Conservatives should be “standing on the side” of supermarket workers, cleaners and carers and said it was unclear why the Government wanted to remove the £20 per week uplift to UC.
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He told MPs the “sudden, abrupt withdrawal” of the £20 uplift “is not the right way of doing welfare policy”.
Conservative MP John Stevenson argued retaining the benefit boost would “improve many people’s lives” and aid the Government’s levelling up agenda.
Peter Aldous, Conservative MP for Waveney, advised that keeping UC at its pandemic rate will help “prevent many people from falling into poverty and despair”, adding: “It would also provide the platform from which families can plan for better futures and can then realise their aspirations.
“As a society, and as an economy, we will all be better for that.”
Ministers have come under sustained pressure to reverse their decision to end the £20 uplift introduced to support families during the coronavirus pandemic.
The extra payments will be phased out from the end of September, with the Government arguing it would cost £6 billion to retain them.
There have been numerous warnings from campaigners and charities that cutting £20 a week from Universal Credit will push thousands of people into poverty.
Six million people across the UK will be left £1000 a year worse off – at the same time as furlough ends, energy prices rise and months before the Tories’ latest tax rise comes in.
Labour tabled a motion asking the Government to cancel the planned cut, amid concerns it will reduce support for families by up to £1040 per year.
However, the motion is non-binding and does not force the Government to act.
It came after Mhairi Black urged Scotland’s six “spineless” Tory MPs to stand up to their Westminster bosses and vote against the planned £20-a-week cut.
The Financial Times reported that a UK Government official said their own internal modelling showed the Universal Credit cut could be “catastrophic”.
Two thirds of Scots are opposed to the cut, according to YouGov. Scotland’s six Tory MPs recently voted for the National Insurance increase, which will see Scots pay to fix problems in England’s social care system.
Black, the SNP’s shadow Scotland secretary, said ahead of the vote: “The six spineless Scottish Tory MPs have let down Scotland time and again over key issues, and their silence on this vital matter speaks volumes.
"Given two thirds of Scots are against the cuts, if there is a vote on the issue today, it is their duty to vote against the move that will slash Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by £20 a week and cancel out the benefits of the Scottish Child Payment.”
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