Boris Johnson faces another backbench rebellion over the Treasury’s spending this autumn, as a high-profile Tory MP hit out at “intolerable” levels of hunger and poverty in his affluent home counties constituency, and urged ministers to abandon plans to cut universal credit. Work and pensions minister, Thérèse Coffey, has confirmed that the pandemic universal credit uplift of £20 a week will be withdrawn as planned at the end of September. But I am going to say when people go on to universal credit they should just get paid immediately, and there should be no question of clawing it back. However, thousands of its residents are furloughed or on universal credit as a result of the Covid crisis, leaving many struggling to manage high rents and living costs. The One Can Trust food bank in Wycombe experienced a 350% rise in demand for food parcels over the pandemic.

Source: The Guardian August 01, 2021 19:30 UTC