Fears cut to Universal Credit will push more people in Moray into poverty
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MORAY’S Conservative MP has been urged to back a U-turn on UK Government plans to cut Universal Credit amid the ongoing Covid-19 economic crisis.
In April last year the UK Government introduced a £20-a-week increase in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit for families during the pandemic. The increase is due to be reversed this April.
In November last year there were 6466 people in Moray claiming Universal Credit, figures show.
The SNP has repeatedly called on the UK Government to maintain the £20 boost to Universal Credit and extend it to legacy benefits – yet say all six Scottish Tory MPs abstained on a vote which would have ensured that.
SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said: "Figures published by Moray Food Plus this week showed that food bank referrals locally had increased by 24 per cent in the last year, which shows just how devastating the Covid crisis has been for households across Moray.
"By slashing social security payments by £1000 a year, in the middle of an economic crisis, the Tories could push thousands of people here in Moray further into hardship and poverty.
"There must be an immediate U-turn on this, to avoid worsening poverty and inequality across the country during the Covid-19 crisis."
He added: "Although the SNP government has led the way in tackling poverty, with new benefits like the Scottish Child Payment and a social security system based on dignity and respect, this progress is being severely undermined by Tory cuts.
"It is crucial that the £20 uplift to Universal Credit is made permanent and extended to legacy benefits, as part of a wider package to boost incomes after a decade of damaging Tory austerity cuts."
Scottish Conservative MP for Moray Douglas Ross said: "Not for the first time, Richard Lochhead is wrong.
"Back in October last year I called for the uplift in Universal Credit to be extended, so my position has been clear for some time.
"That is why I am urging the Chancellor to make that commitment in the Budget, where this decision is taken."
Anti-poverty think-tank the Resolution Foundation estimates that reducing Universal Credit back down could see the incomes of low-income families fall by more than four per cent and plunge a further 820,000 children into poverty across the UK.
