Millions of Universal Credit claimants have been told via text message that their benefits will be cut next month as the Tories plough on with plans to the the £20 a week uplift.
The UK Government has ignored calls from charities, opposition parties and even its own MPs not to remove the modest increase which was introduced in April 2020 to help people through the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts have warned that ending the £20 a week uplift could plunge thousands of people into poverty.
But benefit claimants began to receive text messages yesterday confirming the cut would still be going ahead.
Veteran anti-poverty campaigner Sean Clerkin, a recipient of Universal Credit, said he was sickened by the text message.
"You couldn't make this stuff up," he said. "I phoned the DWP and they confirmed similar messages had been sent to millions of people.
"We have backbench Tory MPs campaigning for the £20 a week uplift to stay, yet the UK Government is ploughing on regardless and telling us via text message.
"This will create a perfect storm of poverty and social distress across Scotland and rest of the UK."
Scottish Labour social security spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy said: “What a shockingly heartless way to tell people that the support they rely on will be cut.
“You cannot announce a decision that could send thousands deeper into poverty via text message. This should go before the parliament, and every MP must find a conscience and vote to keep the uplift.
“Thousands of people are struggling to make ends meet and poverty is rising.
“Thousands of livelihoods are still on the line and our economy is still subject to restrictions and reeling from the impact of the pandemic.
"At this crucial moment, the government should be doing all it can to support people to stay afloat – not pulling the rug out from under them.
“The UK Government must reinstate the uplift and the Scottish Government must get a move on and use the social security powers that it has.”
It comes as a poll published yesterday found nearly two-thirds of Scots support extending the £20-a-week increase to Universal Credit
The £20 boost was a key part of the Tory Government’s emergency package of pandemic support measures.
However, Boris Johnson is refusing to make the rise permanent and campaigners fear a reversal will plunge tens of thousands into poverty.
A UK Government spokesman said: “We have always been clear the uplift was a temporary measure; we have communicated this directly to claimants through their monthly statement and will continue to do so, including via individual claimant journals.
"Claimants can discuss how to take advantage of tailored support on offer via Universal Credit with their Work Coach.
“Our focus now is on our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which will support people in the long-term by helping them learn new skills and increase their hours or find new work.”
A YouGov poll for Citizens Advice Scotland found 35% of people supported keeping the cash in place until the financial situation created by the pandemic “is more stable”.
Over a quarter of those surveyed, 28%, said the cash rise should be made permanent.
Around 11% said the top up should end in September, with another 10% saying the cut should be implemented sooner.
The DWP said it announced last month that benefit claimants would be contacted about the end of the £20 uplift.
The department planned to reach out to around six million claimants across the country ahead of the uplift being removed at the end of September.
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey told MPs in July: “Ahead of October we will start communicating with the current claimants who receive the £20 to make them aware that that will be being phased out.”
