A man who was illegally evicted from his home has begged the government not to cut the Universal Credit 'uplift' fearing he won't be able to put food on the table.
Matthew Jeffrey, 38, had worked as a sales adviser before losing his job and has since relied on charities and church to help him get back on his feet as well as Universal Credit.
He will now be forced to live on £6.66 a day if the Universal Credit cut goes ahead, reports Leeds Live.
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Matthew said: "It’s [UC] been a lifeline for a few years. I’ve been struggling to survive with Universal Credit and now it going to get cut.
“I already don’t pay for my gas, I already cut it out.
“That extra £20 doesn’t seem like a lot but to me it is.”
Matthew often relies on food parcels from the Food Aid Network and he even has to sell his items to pawn shops for extra cash.
Matthew added he would like to go back to work but because of his long-term mental health, he is unable to work.
He continued: "I used to be a sales manager, I got illegally evicted. The landlord changed my locks with notice I ended up at the Crypts.
"I got involved with the church and they got me back on my feet on a suitable level. I got back to having a nice house somewhere to live but I’ve just not been able to get back to work.
"The financial support to get back into training or something would help. Living on £50 a week is impossible at the moment. We’re meant to be a rich country.
“With a bit of support, counselling back into work I could quite easily get back into work.
“I’m not looking for work because I’m trying to survive every day."
Speaking directly to the government, he said: “Don’t cut Universal Credit, I’m laughing but it’s not funny really.
“It’s going to be a big difference for a lot of people.”
The £20 a week uplift was brought in at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 for a year and was extended in March this year, but is due to end by October.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has shown no signs of reversing plans for the £20 reduction, suggesting it could only be kept if paid for by tax hikes.
It is estimated tens of millions of people will be left unable to afford to buy basic household necessities when the cut is brought in.
Just one in 10 people back slashing Universal Credit, according to an Opinium poll for the New Economics Foundation.
The think tank says that “when the uplift is removed, 21.4 million people, including seven million children, will live in households that do not have the amount they need to afford all the basics”.
