IT is ironic that Universal Credit, which was supposed to simplify the welfare system, has become a deeply complex matter for the Conservative Government. The latest delay to a full roll-out of the system has led Dame Louise Casey, the former head of the Government’s Troubled Families programme, to call for the process to be “halted and sorted out” because of the “crippling debt” brought to many families.
Terrible stories of deprivation have accompanied the system’s introduction: people having to sell their possessions; being forced (according to Labour MP Frank Field this week) into prostitution; losing their homes. Those affected include the disabled, the pregnant, the vulnerable, even the mortally ill. There are many accounts of people starving. In Great Britain. In 2018.
In the past fortnight, two former prime ministers, Sir John Major and Gordon Brown, have warned this could be this Government’s poll tax. They weren’t predicting riots but people turning en masse against the Government because, in Sir John’s words, they would perceive it as unfair. Sir John portrayed this as calm British rumbling, but that can easily become impassioned outrage when, for example, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey acknowledges some people will be worse off because of her “tough decisions”. Tough decisions are choosing whether your child gets food or clothes.
Conservatives like to talk tough about welfare “scroungers”. Loss of benefits, they believe, is the only language they understand. However, the Tories themselves are beginning to wilt as they start to detect dire political consequences. Hence the delay and some reforms such as continuing existing benefits while claims on the new system are processed. There is also speculation the Chancellor Philip Hammond will announce extra funding in his Budget on October 29. He needs to come up with something. Otherwise – ironically enough – Universal Credit, which has harmed many welfare claimants, could deeply harm the Government.
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