Two Cambuslang men have told of the drastic impact the Universal Credit cut will have on their lives.
John Gray has been left with only £5 a month Universal Credit as the country faces a triple-whammy of cuts and rising prices.
Scots are bracing for a winter storm of rising energy costs, cuts in benefits and a jobs gap as the pandemic’s furlough scheme came to an end.
John, 24, is among those battling to get a job since resigning from his last post three months ago and is surviving on under £10 a month.
He told our sister title, the Daily Record that he has been competing in interviews with people who know their time on furlough is coming to an end.
And he believes that the poorest people in society are being clobbered from all angles.
John has been forced to borrow cash from friends and family after being sanctioned by the DWP – who cut his Universal Credit to £5 a month.
He is living with his gran and is keen to pay his way, saying the pressure caused by his abject poverty is massive.
John said: “I was working as a horticulturist and I fell out with my boss, so I resigned.
“I missed a scheduled phone call with the Jobcentre Plus and they sanctioned me, putting down that I was sacked for misconduct, and they stuck me on five quid a month, which I can barely believe.
“My reality is that even if I get back on to Universal Credit, I’ll be getting around £250 a month and I’ll be paying debts off that. But how is anyone meant to feed and clothe themselves on that?
"If electricity bills go up it will make life impossible for the poorest of people.”
John said his job hunting has been unsuccessful due to intense competition.
He said: “People who have been on furlough are all looking for a way of sorting themselves out, so it’s not just a matter of turning up at the Jobcentre and getting a start.”
Stephen Park, 42, gets £368 a month Universal Credit and says he sometimes goes days without eating a proper meal. He pays £60 a month on fuel bills and dreads costs going up further.
Stephen, also from Cambuslang, said: “If the Government allows fuel companies to charge what they like it will be a disaster.
"They’re already fat cats and they only care about getting as much cash as possible.
“Cutting £20 back from Universal Credit doesn’t make sense.
"My situation is only getting worse because of the cost of stuff going up, so how can they justify cutting my benefits?”
Poverty campaigners and politicians have urged Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to think again as some of the poorest households brace themselves for an economic battering.
The call for action came as triple-whammy of cuts and rising prices approached, which includes the end of furlough, Universal Credit being cut by £20 a week and rising fuel costs.
Sturgeon said her government was already doing its best to help those on the lowest income and argued that using Scottish Government budgets to “mitigate the impact of reserved policies” would “hit the devolved responsibilities we have hard.”
She pledged that “every penny” that comes to Scotland from the fund would go towards helping cash-strapped households facing the looming “cost-of-living crisis”.
