Universal Credit ‘horrors’

Fresh demands were made by Unite to stop Universal Credit this weekend.

Delegates at the TUC north-west region conference heard a number of shocking stories about the misery the roll out of the all-in-one benefit is causing.

These included details about families being left penniless for more than a month, children with nothing to eat and job centre staff being forced to use the system despite the suffering it inflicts.

Unite delegate Sharza Dethick told delegates, “The number of people on Universal Credit will double this year. People are told they have to spend 35 hours a week looking for a job.

“We have to stop and scrap Universal Credit. That is the policy of the national TUC.”

Dethick called on unions, Labour, local councils and campaign groups in the north west to come together to campaign against Universal Credit.

Delegates also heard from guest speaker Ian Byrne of Fans Supporting Foodbanks – which is made up of thousands of football fans who organise food bank donations in the region.

Byrne told the conference that fans were responding to the “horrors of Universal Credit”.

He said, “It’s disgusting that we should be talking about food banks in 2019. But unfortunately in this country this is where we are. We are in the middle of a humanitarian crisis on our streets, and it is caused by Tory austerity.”

Meanwhile, Sheffield council’s health and well-being board have sent a letter to Amber Rudd, secretary of state for work and pensions, demanding “urgent” changes to the benefit, which they say is “impacting on the most vulnerable people in Sheffield, with particularly severe impacts on mental health”.