Boris Johnson
(Picture: PA)Boris Johnson has been mocked in an obvious way for claiming Brits shouldn’t rely on the welfare state and should instead increase their wages “through their efforts”.
Pressed on the issue of Universal Credit by Sky News, after two Tory MPs wrote to him to urge him to make the £20 Universal Credit increase permanent regardless of the pandemic, the Prime Minister dismissed the suggestion and implied people should work instead – despite many people on Universal Credit also being in work but at low wages.
He said: “My strong preference is for people to see their wages rise through their efforts rather than through taxation of other people put into their pay packets and rather than welfare and that’s the approach we support.”
“People on Universal Credit should rely on their own efforts not money given to them by others” says man who asked others to pay for his new curtains and a nanny. pic.twitter.com/0jOPHo9Dfr
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) August 26, 2021
Being the Prime Minister, Johnson is ironically funded by the taxpayer. He has also accepted donations to fund his lavish flat – remember wallpaper gate? – and has claimed in the past that his salary isn’t sufficient to fund his lifestyle. Please allow us to play a song on a tiny violin.
As a result, he got a comprehensive battering on social media:
1. Almost half of people receiving Universal Credit are already in work, the problem is that wages are too low.
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) August 26, 2021
2. What is @BorisJohnson doing lecturing people about taking responsibility when he has to beg Tory donors to pay for his luxury wallpaper? https://t.co/RD1MPhwjcS
Says one of the most blatant scroungers of modern times. https://t.co/LP6l75Xcyx
— Marcus Chown (@marcuschown) August 26, 2021
More than 1.1million people in UK work more than one job. Nearly 2million people working full time are in poverty. People are working hard and they are still living in poverty. The idea that people are poor because they don't work hard enough is just crass and offensive. https://t.co/UA1knC9c46
— Daniel Sohege 🧡 (@stand_for_all) August 26, 2021
Famously, wages reflect hard work, which is why the people who clean Boris Johnson’s office earn more than he does. https://t.co/tqm8SU8WTT
— Daniel Trilling (@trillingual) August 26, 2021
One rule for them.... another for us pic.twitter.com/SzH3jCussD
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) August 26, 2021
A bit much from a man earning £161k per annum plus accommodation but who still asks for welfare from wealthy donors to fund his personal living expenses including meals, childcare, flat decorations. #OneRuleForThem https://t.co/noM62HSjoX
— Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) August 26, 2021
Man who literally lined his walls with gold using someone else's cash, tells Universal Credit claimants to "rely on their own efforts".
— Dominic Minghella (@DMinghella) August 26, 2021
If it ever meant anything, Levelling Up is officially dead, and so are honour, irony and decency.
As for Universal Credit, Citizens Advice has warned that a third of people on universal credit, or at least 2.3 million people, will end up in debt when the extra payment, which was introduced at the outset of the pandemic and extended this March, is removed in October.
Meanwhile, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation called it the “biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since the Second World War.”
Labour also criticised the cut, saying it would hit the lowest paid hardest and damage the country’s economic recovery.
Shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said: “Time is running out for the Conservatives to see sense, back struggling families and cancel their cut to universal credit.
“Labour would maintain the uplift until we can replace universal credit with a fairer social security system.”
Nevertheless, last month, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed the increase would be scrapped as it was “always intended to be a temporary measure”.
The number of people receiving the benefit has doubled during the pandemic, increasing its cost significantly.
