A million hungry Britons could be forced to foodbanks if Tory ministers slash £20-a-week from Universal Credit, a charity chief warns today.
The Government is poised to press ahead with cutting £1,040-a-year from the flagship welfare benefit from next month.
The temporary rise was introduced in spring 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the UK.
But with restrictions lifted and the economy reopened, the Conservatives are set to ignore siren warnings that axing the hike could plunge desperate families into poverty.
Britain's biggest foodbank operator, the Trussell Trust, told the Mirror the £20-a-week cut “will be the biggest overnight cut to social security since the Second World War and comes amid growing need at foodbanks throughout the pandemic, as well as year-on-year increases in numbers of emergency food parcels distributed to families in crisis”.
Chief executive Emma Revie said: “Cutting the £20 lifeline will be a devastating blow for families up and down the country who are already struggling to make ends meet and could push more than a million people through the doors of foodbanks this winter.
“These are families who will be left unable to afford the basics – like food, heating and clothing – if the UK government chooses to take this lifeline away.
“In a society that believes in justice and compassion, this isn’t right.
“We all deserve the dignity of having enough money to buy the essentials in life – that’s why the UK Government must choose to protect people when they need support and choose to keep the lifeline.”
The Mirror told in April how Trussell Trust centres handed out a third more aid parcels in 2020/21 compared with a year earlier.
The charity's outlets gave away 2,537,198 packages over 12 months.
With each containing enough food for three meals a day for three days, it meant the Trust provided 22,834,782 meals.
Foodbank staff lined up to highlight the threat to hard-up households who rely on the extra £20-a-week.
Claire McCunnie, who works at Glasgow South West Foodbank, said: “We’re expecting to see a tidal wave of people coming through the foodbank’s doors this October, if the UK Government goes ahead with this cut.
“For lots of families living in our city, taking away the £20-a-week will be the difference between putting food on the table or being forced to use a foodbank.
“Any of us can find ourselves pushed into poverty.
“I’ve experienced what it’s like to go through a life-changing event and understand some of the challenges that people on extremely low incomes are already facing.
“That’s why I’m so concerned about the Universal Credit cut and don’t know how people will cope when they were already struggling to feed themselves.”
Joyce Docherty, manager at Cramlington Foodbank near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which is part of the Trussell Trust network, said: “We’ve recently had to start issuing food parcels that contain cold products only for people who can’t afford to turn on their gas or electricity.
“These might include sandwiches from the local supermarkets or even cold baked beans.
“It really is heartbreaking to know that there are people living with this level of poverty right here on our doorstep.
“We’re seeing people from every walk of life coming through the doors of the foodbank.
“The pandemic has hit lots of people hard and it’s not unusual to see families where both parents have lost their jobs – such as people working in hotels, hospitality or bricklayers on construction sites.”
Andy Thornton, chief executive at Harlow Foodbank in Essex, said his charity fed on average 130 people a week before Covid-19 hit – which climbed rose to 170 a week through the pandemic.
He said: “I don’t think people recognise the cost to the nation of forcing people to live on such a low benefit level.
“It destroys people’s confidence, self-esteem, self-worth.
“People need decent support to find work with their dignity intact – this doesn’t happen when they’re broken from living on the precipice of recurrent crises, barely surviving.
“They are lost to the economy. People think it’s good that we’re here, but we’re here because government support isn’t.”
Asked about slashing the temporary rise, Boris Johnson said yesterday: “The key focus for this Government is on making sure that we come out of Covid strongly, with a jobs-led recovery, and I'm very pleased to see the way the unemployment numbers, the unemployment rate has been falling, employment has been rising, but also wages have been rising.
A Government spokesman said: “The temporary uplift to Universal Credit was designed to help claimants through the economic shock and financial disruption of the toughest stages of the pandemic, and it has done so.
“Universal Credit will continue to provide a vital safety net and with record vacancies available, alongside the successful vaccination rollout, it’s right that we now focus on our Plan for Jobs, helping claimants to increase their earnings by boosting their skills and getting into work, progressing in work or increasing their hours.”
How Covid has caused a surge in benefit claims
By RACHEL WEARMOUTH
The Covid pandemic has reversed a decade-long decline in benefit claimants, with young people bearing the brunt of the economic shock.
A new report by the Resolution Foundation reveals the “staggering” growth in reliance on welfare, which comes as Chancellor Rishi Sunak prepares to slash the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift for millions of families.
The proportion of adults aged 16 to 24 receiving benefits rose by two-thirds from nine to 15% between February 2020-21, according to researchers.
The share of 25 to 29-year-olds needing welfare payments shot up from 17% to 24%, while 27% of the 30-59 age group were claiming benefits in February 2021, up from 22%.
Immediately before the pandemic, 62% of the UK population lived in households that received at least one benefit, such as child benefit, state pension and tax credits and other working-age benefits. This is down from 72% in 2005, the think tank’s report, Age-old or new-age, found.
The number of families on working-age income-related benefits rose by 1.4million in 12 months to 7.5 million in February 2021.
It also identified a “potentially worrying” rise in the number of older claimants claiming Universal Credit (UC), with 34,000 more people aged over 50 on the benefit since February.
Karl Handscomb, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “After a decades-long decline in the share of families receiving benefits, the Covid-19 crisis has led to a surge in claims, with 1.4 million more families now claiming support.
“The pandemic benefit surge has been driven by young people – a group who have traditionally been the least likely to claim benefits – and reflects that fact that they have been by far the hardest hit by the Covid economic crisis.”
It comes as disabled people on legacy benefits hit out at being excluded from the £20 UC uplift.
The Disability Benefits Consortium’s (DBC) said some disabled people are falling behind on bills, skipping meals and facing considerable mental health challenges as they struggle financially.
More than 1,800 disabled people in receipt of legacy benefits completed the DBC’s survey, with more than three-quarters (78%) saying their financial situation had deteriorated since the start of the pandemic.
Respondents said they felt the Government’s actions were “discriminatory” (46%), “cruel” (21%), and unfair (21%), with one saying: “The Government are sending a clear message that the disabled do not matter”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “The Government’s unprecedented measures, including the temporary uplift in Universal Credit and the furlough scheme, have supported the nation through the economic shock of the toughest stages of the pandemic.
“Universal Credit will continue to provide a vital safety net, and with record vacancies available, it’s right that we now focus on our Plan for Jobs, to support people in the long-term and help people of all ages back into the workplace.”
The spokesperson added: “It has always been the case that claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit if they believe that they will be better off.”
